


silver and gold

by sujiverse



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, Harry Potter AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-07-28 02:29:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16232369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sujiverse/pseuds/sujiverse
Summary: hyunjin, heejin and their many years spent in hogwarts





	1. silver

**Author's Note:**

> funny how i had this sitting in my drafts this whole time... and then the pictures from the fansign dropped and i just knew i had to finish it hhhhh i had fun writing this i hope yall enjoy it!

all hyunjin remembers from her first year is sitting on the hogwarts express next to a girl who didn't know her own name. she did try to ask, but the poor girl either couldn't understand her or was too busy choking up to even bother about her. hyunjin thought she had done something wrong. she remembers practicing some charms but getting too distracted by the sniffling girl. she had handed her a chocolate frog (only to see it bounce away) and heard her laugh softly for the first time. she tries conversation again, but it doesn't work.

 

she hands her another chocolate frog, and this time the girl actually holds it in her hand for more than a second. it's so intriguing to her that the girl is acting like she hasn't seen a chocolate frog in her entire life. maybe her parents were just really strict about her sugar intake.

 

they leave the train together. then, things happen too fast: hyunjin realises she forgot to ask for her name, they get separated in the crowd, and she sets off alone dejectedly for her first year in hogwarts.

 

she hears whispers of a muggleborn witch, the first one ever. she catches her name being thrown around at the tables while they wait to be sorted. a pretty little face named heejin. she also hears a slur being thrown around with the name, and feels sickened by the hatred in the voice of the boy who said it.

 

when it's her turn to get sorted, she walks up to the stage calmly. some before her had cried, some had looked nervous, some were excited. she was none of those things.

 

"hmmm, the diligence and loyalty of a hufflepuff... but the bravery of gryffindors past..."

 

she hears the voice in her head. it's the sorting hat! she didn't know it could talk... or be indecisive.

 

but then again, it's a silly hat that basically chooses your personality for you. not cool.

 

she thinks of her ambition, to be the best auror in the world. she thinks of her father, a former slytherin himself with a heart of gold. she thinks of the criminal who so coldly took him from her, and the bitterness that came with growing up without a dad.

 

slytherin, she thinks. _i want to be just like you, dad._

 

"SLYTHERIN!"

 

/

 

her first year passes by in a blur. her mother and grandparents told her it would, but she didn't think it would pass this fast. she barely enjoyed her summer, barely did homework, barely ever went out of school and then it was time to leave home for winter. during her break, she spends most of her time practicing flying outside, her mother chiding her to be careful. if any muggles saw, they would be in a whole lot of trouble with the ministry. nobody wants that.

 

hyunjin flies around the house instead, breaking a vase or two, but nothing a little magic couldn't fix. she's talented for her age, was what her professor had said. she aced her first year.

 

(she forgets about the girl she spent her first ride on the hogwarts express with.)

 

in her second year, she gets sent to detention for the first time. she had skipped class to go flying, and apparently, that was against the rules. she finds a friend in vivi, a fifth year who was sent to detention for the same thing. they go flying together the next day (after classes of course) and vivi teaches her how to play quidditch.

 

in her third year, she dates a boy who bears the same name as her. he kisses her and she feels strange. hwang hyunjin is nice, but she rarely focuses on anything other than flying. she breaks up with him, and puts her mind to quidditch instead. vivi tells her she'll be good at it if she tries. she trains to become a seeker, but she can never seem to be able to find that little golden-winged snitch.

 

a few months later, she aces the trials, and succeeds in becoming a chaser for the slytherin quidditch team. her grandparents buy her the newest broomstick as a congratulatory gift, and she uses it almost daily. vivi becomes the slytherin captain, and the main keeper for their team. she even becomes acquainted with haseul, a hufflepuff prefect way too obsessed with vivi to live her own life properly.

 

(but at least she's happy.

 

hyunjin doesn't know if she's happy.)

 

third year is a slap to her face. she's nearing the halfway mark for her stay in hogwarts, but what has she done other than play quidditch, repeat charms and for that one time, made professor jeong barf frogs for an hour straight because he had way too harshly scolded this girl in her class for not bringing her potions book? she needs to do more, she wants to do more.

 

(what was her name again?)

 

on her way back to the slytherin dungeon she stumbles, tripping on her own two feet down the stairs, nearly slipping all the way. she catches herself, only to realise she isn't... catching herself.

 

someone else is. she looks up, and mutters a thanks to the girl who has used a cushioning charm to break her fall. her feet land softly on the steps below, her legs safe from bruises.

 

it's her, in her usual gryffindor gear, striped scarf around her neck, and a matching red tie. she looked like a dashing private school student from one of those muggle teen royalty movies.

 

what's her name again?

 

"kim hyunjin, right? we're in the same potions class." the girl beats her to it.

 

"yeah! jeon heejin... right? t-thanks a lot, by the way." why the hell is she stuttering?

 

heejin giggles. "so you finally got my name. thanks a lot too, by the way."

 

hyunjin gives her a puzzled look. she was too busy processing the first sentence to even notice the next. heejin makes a gesture that makes it seem like she's retching, and hyunjin finally gets it.

 

"oh, oh! uh... no problem... the professor was being a dick anyway. and since you saved my legs from bruising i guess, we're even?"

 

"no we're not, you never asked for my name! for three years!"

 

"well, neither did you! and why... would i have asked for your name three years ago?"

 

heejin pulls out a chocolate frog. its a little flattened, but moments later it pops back into shape. she hurriedly clasps her hands together to keep it from escaping.

 

"i'm still not that good at keeping them in my hands. you gave me one of these three years ago, but it ran away, remember? back when i didn't even know how to deal with being surrounded by magic."

 

hyunjin almost cries at the memory.

 

they catch up, like old friends, even though they aren't even remotely friends. from the slytherin dungeons, they stroll to the gryffindor tower, and then walking out of the building, only to move towards the edge of the forbidden forest, past the lake to turn back to the (safe) confines of the gryffindor tower.

 

hyunjin finds out why heejin was crying on the train that many years ago. the pressure of being the first muggleborn witch, and the press that followed her until she boarded the train would have been overwhelming to anyone, let alone an eleven year old child. some pure blood supremacists had even vandalised her house the morning of her first day of school, a traumatic experience she would never wanted to relive.

 

(hyunjin hugs her, apologising for not doing so when she could, three years ago. but heejin never resented her for anything.

 

"you were the first person to cheer me up. i'll never forget that.")

 

when it's finally time for dinner in the great hall, they leave each other, with promises of a fresh beginning, and a blossoming friendship.

 

/

 

fourth year comes fast enough, and their infant friendship manages to withstand the tests of geography (the dungeons and the tower were pretty far apart) and time, or lack thereof. but fourth year promises to be better than third, because while they had only previously shared one class together, now they shared two: charms and potions.

 

they relish trips to hogsmeade together, enjoying the little trinkets they would buy at the joke shop. the fart bombs were always their favourite. they were sneakily setting off a few into the prefects' bathrooms and watching most, if not all the girls run out screaming. it was the most fun they would have, until time came around for them to visit hogsmeade again.

 

heejin even starts going to some of her quidditch games. her red tie and scarf feels sorely out of place in the sea of green and silver, and hyunjin worries about what the other gryffindor students would think of her.

 

nothing can stop heejin from sitting where she wants though. she does indeed become the target of some gryffindor dickheads who found it fun to trip her, but just like the boys who used to sneer at her and call her a mudblood, they get a taste of those who came before them—  _slugulus eructo._

 

it's a handy trick. heejin has hyunjin to thank for that one.

 

/

 

fifth year throws a curveball at them that they never see coming. some positives though, were that now they shared not one, not two, but four classes together. transfiguration, potions, defence against the dark arts, and care of magical creatures.

 

heejin becomes a prefect, while hyunjin develops somewhat of a rebellious streak.

 

trouble back at home starts again when the same gang that targetted her dad so many years ago returns to now harrass the rest of her family. her grandmother even got mugged on her way to a bakery, which angered hyunjin so much that she tore up the letter that was sent to her and had half a mind to fly back home herself on her broom, before getting pulled back down to earth literally by heejin.

 

some dickhead of a prefect named kim jungeun had tried to take away points from slytherin for her little runaway act in the great hall, but heejin stopped her and told her to leave. she cries into her friend's arms for the rest of the day, unaware of the fate of her family back home. she pens a letter to them, upon heejin's advice, and it helps to suppress the ugly feelings of resentment resurfacing where she thought she had put them away for good.

 

where it rears its ugly head though, is when hyunjin gets into trouble.

 

barely a three months into her fifth year and she was already getting into fistfights in herbology with screaming plants she didn't even bother to take down the name of, arguing with her muggle studies teacher over his attitude because the professor had clearly mocked david copperfield (who was heejin's favourite magician of all time, mind you), and even skipping classes when she felt too upset over a letter from home. being sent to the headmaster's office became a common occurence to her, and only two things made her happy.

 

quidditch, and heejin.

 

vivi graduating meant that the person who used to look out for her most was now gone. heejin was her best friend, and the only person she trusts enough to tell about her problems. outside of her, she probably only knew jungeun well enough to call her a friend, if the snobby yet soft-hearted prefect would even consider her as one.

 

(they did make up over the incident, and jungeun apologised for being insensitive towards her situation at that point in time. granted, heejin had held her at wandpoint to apologise, but hyunjin takes it anyway. it only proves how much alike she and jungeun actually are, since she would never apologise first even if she was in the wrong unless heejin made her do it. perhaps that’s why heejin considers the two of them to be her best friends, and the three of them became sort of a _clique,_ as much as jungeun and hyunjin tried to stop it from happening.)

 

jungeun and heejin still go to her games, and whilst her personal life and her grades had taken a few steps back, her control over the sport hadn't. her new captain is sooyoung, a fierce competitor and an even fiercer teammate. honestly, hyunjin is thankful that she's so ruthless. the burning in her thighs after each training session takes away a lot of energy that she could have instead used to cause trouble. it's good for her, she thinks. it also helps that amidst the silver and green, she can always spot two red-tied gryffindors in the crowd, screaming her name and cheering her on every single game.

 

quidditch becomes her priority, as always. while she had made a promise to herself that she would ace the o.w.l.s at the end of the year, that quickly goes forgotten.

 

(much like her longtime dream of becoming an auror.)

 

heejin advices her to study more though, and to hyunjin's credit, she does try. she manages to steer clear of trouble in every class she shares with heejin, a testament to heejin's ability to calm her down when the impulse arises. care of magical creatures quickly becomes her second favourite class, because she gets to watch her friend scream in terror at what nature the magical world offers, while transfiguration becomes her favourite.

 

she is the typical dumbheaded jock from every one of those stupid muggle romcoms heejin makes her watch, which is why she can never say it with her own mouth, but the reason transfiguration is her favourite class is because she gets to see heejin become a rabbit. and a very, very, very cute, tiny and grey-haired one at that.

 

her temper cools down significantly as the year passes by, no thanks to her friends and quidditch season. visits to the headmaster are few and far between, and she gets by feeling better knowing that the harrassers hadn't showed up in a few weeks to hound her family.

 

(apparently, jungeun has a really powerful mother who works in the ministry.)

 

(she gives her a goofy smile and a tight hug when jungeun gives her an update about the gang leader being sentenced to life in azkaban for crimes apart from putting her family in half a year's worth of misery. as much as they hate to admit it, they are more than just mutual friends of heejin's, and they care for each other, more than they think.)

 

she goes into the last game of the quidditch cup with a peace of mind, something she hasn't had in a few months. sooyoung gives them a pep talk, and she sees their keeper, jinsoul, being moved to tears at the speech.

 

she holds back tears of her own when sooyoung talks about destroying the other team, and claiming the quidditch cup from gryffindor for the first time in a decade. hyunjin really wants to win this one.

 

heejin and jungeun apologised to her beforehand, because loyalty to their house dictates that they should be cheering alongside other students wearing red and gold, and despite their friendship with her meant only one of them could be at the slytherin side. heejin takes the harder job of the two, and volunteers herself for catcalls of "traitor!" and "slytherin lover!".

 

hyunjin lends her her own scarf, tie and robe to wear, but she rejects them.

 

"i want you to know where i am," heejin had told her cheekily. "i don't care about the house's glory. i just want you to win and be happy."

 

her heart had grown twice in size upon hearing those words.

 

when she first walks out onto the field, she immediately finds the red dot in the crowd of silver. she shoots a smile and a wink in that general direction, and hopes heejin's thick glasses and binoculars do the trick.

 

"WELCOME TO THE FINAL GAME OF THE INTER-HOUSE QUIDDITCH CUP," im yeojin's voice ricochets around the stadium. she gives a few quick jokes that help ease up some of the players' nerves, and garners some laughter from the overexcited crowd. the commentator has been a fan favourite this season for a reason.

 

"AND FINALLY, BEFORE THE GAME STARTS, ON BEHALF OF MY WIMPY FRIEND JUNG JINSOUL, KEEPER FOR THE SLYTHERIN TEAM, I WOULD LIKE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO FIFTH YEAR GRYFFINDOR PREFECT KIM JUNGEUN. JINSOUL LIKES YOU. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT."

 

the crowd goes "ooh" in part amusement, and in part for dramatic effect. jinsoul nearly drops the broom in her hands, her flushed cheeks and red ears giving away how embarrassed she was feeling. hyunjin, on the other hand-

 

"YOU LIKE MY FRIEND?" hyunjin roars in laughter. jinsoul bangs her head onto her broom, squeezing her eyes shut. sooyoung and a couple of other teammates slap her on the back, some others whistling at her, also laughing.

 

"damn you, yeojin..." she grumbles under her breath.

 

hyunjin approaches her with a devilish smile. "don't be too embarrassed. my friend's pretty great. i get why you like her. but you're both losers, so even after knowing about your painful crush on her, she wouldn't do anything about it except turn red at the mention of your name. so plan a date, give me a time, and i'll set you up."

 

"wait, you would really do that? jungeun wouldn't mind?"

 

"if she didn't like you, i wouldn't be doing this for you two, would i?" hyunjin grins, memories of jungeun swooning over how cool the keeper looks flooding into view. _disgusting_. she shoves them out of her mind, waving away jinsoul's starry-eyed ”thank you"s as yeojin starts the introduction of each team's players.

 

"KIM HYUNJIN, CHASER FOR SLYTHERIN!"

 

/

 

the game ends with their star seeker, son hyejoo, clinching the golden snitch before the other team's seeker even realised she had spotted it. not that the game was ever in question though, with a fired up jinsoul blocking almost all of gryffindor's scoring attempts, and the hyunjin-sooyoung tandem absolutely wrecking havoc on the offensive end.

 

they lift hyejoo in the air and parade her around the field, much to the younger girl's embarrassment. hyunjin only stays long enough to lift the giant silver trophy alongside her teammates, and to hear sooyoung choke up on her speech about it being the best and most memorable quidditch season in her life, and the greatest win of their careers. she loves her team, don't get her wrong, but she has someone way more important waiting for her outside the stadium.

 

/

 

she sees the girl, striped scarf and red tie on, smiling widely at her like she always does. somehow, she seems different. no longer the teen royalty hyunjin once thought of her as, no longer the insecure muggleborn on the train whimpering her way to school, no longer the heejin who got bullied by her own professors.

 

she's more than just the girl hyunjin forgot the name of. what a year it has been. this was her best friend, jeon heejin: a muggleborn witch with skills that precede her reputation, a survivor of bullying, a prefect with a heart of gold, and kim hyunjin's rock.

 

heejin wraps her in a hug before she can even say anything. she doesn't know why they're crying, but they do.

 

"why are we even crying?" hyunjin asks, incredulous.

 

"it's been such a rough year," heejin mumbles into her jersey. "i'm just so proud of you."

 

hyunjin laughs. "it hasn't even been a year," she continues. "but time really flies. i met you last last january, and now it's march already."

 

"technically you met me five septembers ago," heejin replies, head resting on hyunjin's shoulder, arms still around her waist. hyunjin rubs her upper back soothingly.

 

in between the praises that heejin showers her about her performance during the game, hyunjin thanks her.

 

"for what exactly?" heejin had asked.

 

"just, for everything."

 

(for staying by her side even in the worst period of her life. for keeping her grades in check because she couldn't do it herself. for being a good listener. for dealing with hyunjin's problems like they were her own. for introducing her to jungeun, a friend she knows she would keep for life. for supporting her at her games. for saving her food when she knew hyunjin didn't have the appetite, and feeding her when she did. for being a really great partner in the classes they share. for making her days less dull and dreadful. for making her feel loved. for everything else, small and big.

 

hyunjin pens them all down in a letter and places it on heejin's bed that night, sneaking into the common room when everyone was asleep, and when she was sure heejin would be showering.

 

 _my father would have loved you._ heejin burst into tears reading that line.)

 

they stay in each other's arms for a little longer than they should, and hyunjin unwittingly catches a cold from not changing out of her sweaty gear fast enough.


	2. gold

the rest of their fifth year is a flurry of things, bad and good, but mostly good. nothing can be worse than whatever she went through at the start of the year.

 

nothing. 

 

nope. not even the o.w.l.s, which hyunjin studied every day for almost two months for and managed to— in her own words— scrape past _barely_ with "exceeds expectations" in every class except charms, for which she got an "outstanding" grade, and an ugly-looking "acceptable" for herbology. 

 

(what? she has high expectations of herself. sue her.)

 

jungeun, surprisingly, fares slightly worse than her, no thanks to the "troll" grade she got for divination. thank merlin she won't be needing, or using the subject for the rest of her life. 

 

heejin, unsurprisingly, scores an "exceeds expectation" for every class except charms, potions, and transfiguration, for which she got perfect "outstanding" grades. 

 

things have been going well for her, obviously, and her mood has been uplifted through the last few dreary weeks of school.

 

she believes that nothing, not even having to meet professor yang hyun suk about her future career options and what subjects she will take in year six, could ruin her mood. not even that ugly, crusty-faced and foul-smelling man can stop her from believing that her life is no longer going downhill.

 

"so, miss kim myungjin-"

 

"i'm hyunjin."

 

"alright, miss yeonjin. any ambitions?"

 

the professor taught her charms in year four. he clearly knew her name, and just wanted to piss her off. hyunjin just knows it has all to do with the fact that she once stood up to him in class. still, she remains that it wasn't her fault she was such a talented witch that she managed to actually drench him in water when he taunted her. 

 

_("miss hyunjin, i suggest you listen in class. unless, you already know how to utilise this spell?"_

 

_"i do, sir," hyunjin grins lazily at him from her seat, rubbing her eyes. it was a good nap, until he decided to wake her up with a hard tap of his wand on her head._

 

_"really? i want to see you do it, then. i was the first student in my year to accomplish the feat of performing this spell, and i was, mind you, in my sixth year."_

 

_"i have done it before, sir. i can show you."_

 

_"do it then! i would like to see you try. aim it anywhere on me, as you please," professor yang sneers at her, and when she hesitates, adds, "can't do it? come on, you're a pure blooded witch. act like it."_

 

_"professor, i'm sure me having two magical parents has nothing to do with my skills in charms." she feels some laughter die down at the serious tone of her voice._

 

_"please, spare me the lecture. i am your professor. now, show me the spell, or get out of my class!"_

 

_knowing the professor was going to be soaked at the end of it all, she raises her eyebrows and looks around. the class looks highly entertained. she'll give them a show. hyunjin aims her wand at his head like she would a gun, and squeezes an eye shut to perfectly line the tip of the wand with his obnoxious forehead. she visualises a stream of water shoot out and hit right where it would hurt most._

 

_"aguamenti!")_

 

"i want to be... an auror." 

 

professor yang laughs so mirthlessly that it almost seems soulless. maybe it is; hyunjin isn't predisposed to denying the idea that professor yang may just be an emotionally-deficient android at this point. even though she's not his student anymore, hyunjin still wants to deck him in the face, or splash him with a painful jet of water. 

 

"an auror? you?" he mocks. "you will need to do exceedingly well for your n.e.w.t.s to even be considered for that course of study. you are aware of that, right?"

 

"yes," she says through gritted teeth. heejin tells her she's been doing well lately with holding in her anger. she hopes heejin is right. "i'm good with charms, sir. i'm sure you remember."

 

"indeed i do, miss hwanjin. being your teacher was... interesting. let's see what your current teachers say about you shall we?"

 

hyunjin braces herself for what she expects will be pretty harsh words from her fifth year teachers.

 

"miss hyunjin has had a rocky start to the year but has proven to still be excellent at potions, if she tries... okay, next!" he flips through a few pages, finally landing on one that makes his eyes widen. "miss hyunjin often gets into brawls with the magical plants, and shows little interest in being a herbologist. however, she is a talented student- oh come on!"

 

"sir, my teachers actually have nice things to say about me," she states, amused at how the session is turning out. frankly, she's just as pleasantly surprised as professor yang is profoundly disgusted, that her teachers did actually have faith in her to do well. 

 

"well," he starts, still desperately flipping through pages while simultaneously ignoring hyunjin. "just in case things don't work out, you could always be like, a quidditch player? i mean, it doesn't pay well if you aren't good enough, but i'm sure you'll figure it out. it's a pity you weren't crowned the most valuable player though, would have definitely helped your application to quidditch clubs outside if you did."when he decides he's done he snickers, placing her portfolio back into his drawer. he clearly doesn't have anything else to offer her. hyunjin takes in a deep breath, and tries not to look like she's two bad thoughts away from letting her knuckles leave an imprint on his jaw. 

 

soon after, he dismisses her, and she makes sure to not thank him for his time. hyunjin makes a mental note to report the professor to her newfound friend. 

 

(and by "newfound friend", hyunjin means the headmaster park, just for the record.)

 

"how did it go?" heejin asks, greeting her with a hug and a smile. it's almost too easy to find heejin; she'll probably be in an empty potions lab, trying to research and memorise cures for ailments. 

 

(once, hyunjin had broken an arm falling off her broom while flying at night. not wanting to get caught, she had snuck into heejin's room instead of heading to the infirmary. heejin had almost cried because she had no idea how to help the injured girl. it took jungeun all but two hours to find that spellbook of cures she inherited from her father. since then, heejin has been stuffing her brain with as many spells and potions necessary, for whenever hyunjin might need it. 

 

she doesn't give hyunjin the satisfaction that she does it just for her, and spins up a lie instead about her wanting to become a healer in the future. it's only half a lie, since she actually does grow into the idea of being one.)

 

heejin's warmth and contagious happiness, or rather heejin herself, is a timeless remedy for her pains, hyunjin thinks. 

 

"terribly. i hate that guy," she mumbles into the shorter girl's shoulder. "i'll go find headmaster park for a career consultation instead. we're basically friends at this point anyway."

 

heejin hums in approval, rubbing the other girl's back.

 

what a strange sight they are. the tall and menacing one being babied by the shorter, baby-looking one. jungeun walks in on them at that instant, but chooses to turn away with a smirk instead. hyunjin spots her through a half-opened eye, but pays no attention to her.

 

"i didn't raise my voice at him," hyunjin continues, pulling back to grin at the other girl. "i really wanted to punch him, but i didn't."

 

heejin beams at her, her already pale faceseemingly glowing even brighter. she also somehow manages to make hyunjin's knees feel even weaker when she takes her face in both of her tiny hands, stroking her cheeks with her thumbs. 

 

_oh. i'm short-circuiting._

 

heejin stands on her toes to reach her, placing the gentlest of kisses on her right cheek. 

 

"good job," she says happily, melting back into hyunjin's embrace.

 

hyunjin's brain short-circuits again, happily.

 

(when hyunjin goes to find headmaster park jihyo herself for career guidance, she finally receives some useful advice. she'll take defence against the dark arts, potions, transfiguration, charms and herbology at n.e.w.t. level. 

 

herbology will have her head by the end of the two years for sure, but it definitely helps to have future healers heejin and jungeun take the cursed subject alongside her.

 

she _will_ become an auror.)

 

/

 

fifth year ends, finally. over the long break,heejin decides to invite to her house to spend a non-magical weekend sleepover. 

 

they invite jungeun, of course, but the girl already had plans. something about going on a date with jinsoul, and something about watching a quidditch game with her. hyunjin had marvelled at the courage jinsoul had shown, asking jungeun out on a date like this, while heejin had guffawed while telling a joke about how jinsoul was "a real keeper". 

 

it's not like jungeun really wanted to spend time with them anyway, since she felt like a third wheel most of the time unbeknownst to the two girls. that's not a bad thing, per se, since the girls tried to include her in everything they did. but some things— like holding hands and kissing each other on the cheek— are just reserved for them both. thank merlin they exclude her for _those_ , and now she's voluntarily excusing herself from _this_.

 

needless to say, they were happy to do without jungeun for that weekend and vice versa, for more reasons than one.

 

heejin assures her that she's in for a treat, and promises her "the best muggle holiday you can ever have, actually not really but since it's with me it better be the best one ever", and that they will have the time of their lives.

 

so nothing really does stop her from turning up ten minutes early for their rendezvous, wearing the most muggle-acceptable clothes she owns: a blue denim jacket over a graphic t-shirt and jean shorts. she only realises why she's nervous until heejin shows up in white, _flowy_ dress of all things, and her greeting becomes all shaky and weird; how do you coherently condense " _hi, i can't believe this is the first time we're seeing each other in regular clothes what the hell you look amazing but i can't say that it would be really weird but you're making my heart do flips and shit jeon heejin i think you're really pretty and you're so pretty that my heart is in pain oh dear oh dear oh dear please don't come so close i can't handle it_ "?

 

you don't. you stay mute while heejin talks your ear off.

 

there's worse; heejin confiscates her wand before she can finish casting the spell to dry her clammy hands. then, things really go downhill when hyunjin sees heejin's to-do-list. that's how she decides being put under the cruciatus curse would be less painful than whatever heejin was going to put her through. 

 

but this is heejin, acting like an overexcited puppy; and this is hyunjin, who's unable to resist even the calmest sides of jeon heejin.

 

_watch a movie at the cinema_. would hyunjin willingly set herself up for two hours of holding hands straight? no way. she wasn't be able to focus on what the actors were saying, with her heart beating so loudly in her chest that she can actually feel it in her ears. hyunjin doesn't know what the heck goes on for the better part of "venom", or whatever the hell that movie was. 

 

_visit namsan tower._ heejin tells her it's a popular dating spot amongst young muggle couples, and she tries her best to hide her giggle when heejin confesses she's never been there with anyone else. like every other sickeningly sweet pair of friends and not-friends present, they attach a cute little lock to the tower's growing collection. it dons pink and yellow stripes, heejin obviously taking their favourite colours into account. (she conveniently glosses over hyunjin's uncontrollable cackling and snide comments of it being remarkably hideous.) they etch their initials on the lock with a marker as well, only turning back to write jungeun's ten seconds later, when they realise they had totally forgotten about her. 

 

_meet my family._ before reaching heejin's residence, hyunjin had expected to finally meet her best friend's parents with an awkward greeting but receive a warm welcome nonetheless. hyunjin gets exactly that, in addition to over-friendly hugs from heejin's older sisters. the beautiful house they live in however, catches her by surprise. her family of five lives in a penthouse that has access to the roof, in a 40-storey high building, in bloody gangnam. it also features lots of crazy technology that simply doesn't exist when you have magic, like cleaning robots, an electric fireplace and—  _merlin's beard!_  — air-conditioning. 

 

_stay up and stargaze._ this is when hyunjin realises when heejin said stargaze, she really meant _stargaze—_  with a mattress and telescope set up on the roof and everything, complete with snacks, an electric fan, and pillows for them to get comfortable. they do end up slightly disappointed, with clouds obscuring most of the sky. but imagine if you're hyunjin, getting the occasional plane flying right over you as you lie on the comfortably-made bed, a fan to blow away the summer heat, a wicked view of seoul's skyline, a pretty girl in your arms as you go to sleep, and the same pretty girl hugging you when you wake up; what more can you ask for?

 

_have a mchealthy mcbreakfast._ a fast food restaurant really isn't the most conducive of places, and hyunjin can't hear heejin half the time since the hellish mcdonald's was so crowded and heejin was making it worse by talking while stuffing her face with hotcakes. she still mcenjoys the mcbreakfast thoroughly, though. 

 

_meet choi yerim._ wait, who?

 

"my friend from dance class!"

 

"you still attend dance classes?" 

 

"no, we attended ballet classes together when we were toddlers. and then we grew up together, because our parents became friends. i meet her every summer break. she's like the closest thing i have to a best friend," heejin adds cheekily when hyunjin pouts, "other than you." 

 

when yerim announces her arrival with a "JEON HEEJIN" three octaves too high, executes an elaborate handshake with heejin, and gives hyunjin what must be the tightest hug known to mankind, hyunjin decides she adores heejin's childhood friend. 

 

the rustic cafe they choose to meet at boasts an array of tarts and pies, and hyunjin carefully orders a few while the old friends catch up. where heejin struggles to remember the details of certain anecdotes, hyunjin fills them in for her, and yerim tunes in with utter enthusiasm. 

 

in the midst of hyunjin's retelling of heejin's most embarrassing fall into the lake during one of their care of magical creatures lessons-- she had been running away from her assigned hippogriff-- they get a video call request from jinsoul. the half-blood knows her way around a smartphone or two, unlike jungeun and hyunjin, and she manages to call heejin with the contact number she found in the group chat for witches and wizards with muggle roots.

 

jungeun and jinsoul seem as surprised as yerim is by one another's presence. once yerim greets them with that overflowing enthusiasm of hers, jinsoul coos and asks jungeun if they can adopt her. 

 

"huh?! we- uh, we don't even- are we even dating yet? can you provide for her? i-i obviously, like, i like her already too but what? you have to ask me out on a second date first before dropping such a bomb on me, what the heck!" it cracks everyone up to see jungeun going into full panic mode, and they have a good laugh, much to her "very panicked" dismay.

 

hyunjin teases jungeun relentlessly, and the latter ends up screaming in the background after hyunjin asks which base they've reached. 

 

(it's none of the bases, for the record. jungeun and jinsoul are both gentlewomen who wait till at least the third date to make a move.)

 

before they know it, the call ends as jinsoul needs to send jungeun home, yerim needs to meet her curfew, and hyunjin and heejin only have a meal left before the former needs to return home as well.

 

she doesn't live that far, just an hour and a bus ride away. heejin is too preoccupied with ordering from the japanese restaurant they're in, oblivious to hyunjin silently thanking her mother for choosing to move to seoul for a fresh start after the whole affair with the gangs harrassing them.

 

the food is good, and they both end up bloated and needing a walk. 

 

the han river is nice, but the han river at night? better. 

 

_taking a walk is nice, but taking a walk with heejin's hand in yours? much better._

 

"not using magic for once, how did it feel?" heejin asks as they settle on a park bench. 

 

"that's funny," hyunjin exclaims. "i think i was so distracted the whole time i didn't even realise i needed magic, or my wand."

 

heejin giggles, but pulls out hyunjin's wand from her bag to return it anyway. 

 

"distracted by what?"

 

_by you._ hyunjin swallows hard, the answer to the question stuck in her throat. a pigeon flies by them in that instant, a bit too close, and heejin dives straight into her lap with a yelp. she laughs.

 

fortunately, the conversation for the rest of the night steers clear from hyunjin and her feelings, or whatever. she wouldn't have been able to handle heejin unknowingly questioning how she felt for her over and over again. the truth is, she's not too sure herself what heejin really means to her. she's even more uncertain as to how heejin would react to her truth, and that scares her to no end.

 

all she knows is that when heejin places another tender kiss on her right cheek much like the previous occurrence, her brains and limbs turn into mush, and she finds it a chore to form coherent sentences after; and also that perhaps, she doesn't want anyone else but heejin to ever kiss her cheek for the rest of her life. 

 

/

 

the rest of summer break barely even feels like a break. hyunjin writes letters to heejin almost daily, and the latter complains of the utter inconvenience of handwritten letters compared to using smartphones. hyunjin doesn't understand a word of it, but she promises to brush up on her muggle knowledge in her own time to one day know the difference between "ios" and "android", whatever those things are. 

 

hyunjin's month-long family trip to romania, where her older brother lives and studies dragons, takes up most of her energy and time, though she still tries her best to return heejin's letters. 

 

then, it's september again before they know it. 

 

she meets heejin and jungeun at seoul station's platform nine-and-three-quarters, enveloping her two best friends in a hug when they meet. they aren't the type to squeal, but heejin _is_ , and she does enough of that for the three of them combined.

 

/

 

sixth year starts in the most unimpressive way ever— with a bunch of elections.

 

jungeun and heejin have to moderate the selection of the new and upcoming fifth year prefects, and they spent most of their time after classes in the council room, leaving hyunjin to fly around on her own, or look for an equally-bored jinsoul to get some quidditch practice in. 

 

the slytherin quidditch clubs holds their own elections as well, and since seventh years typically don't play, sixth years step in as captains instead. and that makes hyunjin a viable candidate for captain. sooyoung wipes fake tears off her face as she announces she would be stepping down, as if nobody saw that coming, making most of them crack up. hyunjin does see hyejoo choking back tears though, so that means at least one person felt a tinge of sadness in that moment.

 

it's funny though, because while hyunjin never thought of herself as worthy of the position, apparently everyone else did. she gets unanimously voted in by her peers and juniors, and holds back an excited dance when sooyoung hands her the key to the captains-only bathroom. later, she catches the weakly thrown bludger sent her way by heejin— who manages to sneak out of the many briefings by head girl kim jiwoo to seek her out, knowing she'll need someone to talk to after the elections. 

 

(again, it was between jungeun and heejin as to who was going to sneak out to talk to hyunjin. jungeun decides she can't betray her close friend jiwoo, and tells heejin that hyunjin would be happier to see her anyway. and thus, heejin is the one who has to fake a convincing stomachache in the middle of the prefects' briefing, and while she hates lying, she would still do it for a good cause; that good cause being hyunjin, obviously.) 

 

"did you just try to assault the newly-elected captain of the slytherin quidditch team?" hyunjin asks with a laugh. heejin's eyes widen at the words, and she runs forward to tackle her in a hug.

 

"that's amazing!"

 

hyunjin shows her the captain's bathroom, but heejin only gets around ten minutes with her, so she spends most of it planting kisses on hyunjin's cheek while listening to hyunjin ramble on about quidditch. time passes by too fast, and she has to literally let heejin go from her arms. 

 

still, hyunjin thinks she could live with just that. 

 

(jinsoul catches hyunjin and heejin having a _moment_ while going back to the lockers to get the gloves she left behind. deciding it's best not to intrude, she leaves as quietly as she can, and turns around to run, but not before witnessing heejin press another dopey kiss on hyunjin's cheek.

 

her friend's ears are almost as red as jungeun's when she's the one kissing her cheek. _maybe it's a pure-blood thing_ , jinsoul thinks. 

 

she reports the scene to jungeun who's studying in the library by whispering a bit too closely into her very red, but very functional ears. jungeun shrugs as if she's known all this time.

 

"they like each other," jungeun breathes, unable to look at jinsoul. her cheeks are the same colour as her ears. "i'm quite sure heejin knows it. hyunjin doesn't know it yet."

 

jinsoul has to stifle a laugh when jungeun looks dead serious when she tells her afterward to _"never whisper in my ear like that again, unless we're alone".)_

 

/

 

hyunjin grumbles under her own breath as she makes her way to her first charms lesson of the year. it's the only lesson she doesn't share with either jungeun (dada, potions), heejin (transfiguration), or both (herbology), so she's stuck with the enthusiastic head girl who just has to be the most hufflepuff person to ever be a hufflepuff. 

 

jiwoo, she learns, is incredibly intelligent. don't let her bubbliness fool you: other than the self-proclaimed "charms god" hyunjin, teacher assistant sooyoung, and jiwoo herself, no one else was able to perform a nonverbal disarming charm. professor yoo takes a particular liking to jiwoo, as does her ex-captain and now teacher assistant.

 

the lesson goes by in a blur, and it feels almost too short. maybe it has something to do with hyunjin really enjoying charms, or maybe she had just been so caught up with trying to silently one-up sooyoung every time the girl demonstrated something. sooyoung shoves her playfully at one point, asking her to _"stop stealing my thunder!"_

 

"i see that there are extremely outstanding students in my class this year, so i propose a challenge," professor yoo declares at the end of the lesson. "the patronus charm is ridiculously difficult, as some of you know. so i will be giving extra credit to anyone that can conjure a patronus at any point from now till the end of this year. a corporeal patronus, mind you! if your patronus just looks like smoke, trust me when i say your extra credit will go up in smoke as well. class dismissed!"

 

extra credit? for a spell she learnt when she was six?! it was like the universe decided that it was enough suffering for hyunjin and only great things to come.

 

she stops the professor on her way out, not wanting to attract any eyes. it wouldn't look too great for even the "charms god" to be asking for extra credit four days into the school year. 

 

"professor, i can perform the patronus charm!"

 

professor yoo smiles at her. "i don't doubt you can, hyunjin. but from what i can tell you wouldn't have put in much practice into it yet." hyunjin opens her mouth to make a protest, but is stopped quickly by the professor's raised hand.

 

"maybe try it a few times on your own first, and give it a go next lesson. if it's not perfect, i don't want to see it. understand?" the blonde-haired woman raises her eyebrow, sounding slightly threatening. hyunjin can only nod and gulp in reply.

 

she takes off to the lake after her classes end, eager to get in some practice. she has always loved casting the patronus charm, since it was a spell literally based on your happiness. and for as long as she could remember, hyunjin's patronus was a wolf. her dad's animagus. it made perfect sense. 

 

when she was six, he took her camping in the woods near their residence. by the lakeside, he had taught her how to conjure a patronus. 

 

(hyunjin thinks she was probably a child prodigy. when she got into hogwarts, she realised only seventh years got to learn how to cast the spell in n.e.w.t.-level classes. no one had been, or would have been able to conjure a patronus at her age.) 

 

she still remembers his instructions clearly. _breathe, think of your happiest memory, and then shout "expecto patronum"_. 

 

_breathe_. deep inhale, exhale.

 

_happiest memory_. she thinks of her dad, her mum, and their day spent at a muggle zoo.

 

and, _expecto patronum_. 

 

wait...

 

"expecto patronum!"

 

and again. she's not seeing this correctly, is she?

 

and again. she furrows her eyebrows, eyes tracing the silver light her wand leaves in the air.

 

and again. hyunjin sighs. just like the previous three times she has tried to cast this spell, her patronus hops away on two hind feet into the forbidden forest, instead of walking on all fours. 

 

her patronus isn't a wolf anymore. it's a rabbit.

 

a gust of wind blows, and she shivers in the cold. she buries her head in her hands, sitting down and huddling into herself, finally bursting into tears when she realises she can't remember if her father wore glasses or not.

 

_dad... i'm so sorry._

 

(jungeun finds her lying against the tree after dinner, near the edge of the forest. she brings her back to the dungeons, and hyunjin makes her promise not to tell heejin.)

 

/

 

"have you managed to conjure the patronus for your extra credit? i heard from jiwoo about your _wizarding_ _brilliance_ during charms."

 

heejin is met with unusual silence. she looks over to see hyunjin staring into the distance, eyebrows furrowed. her food is still untouched, and she prods her chicken aimless without even looking at it. 

 

(it's a harrowingly familiar sight. hyunjin did this a lot last year whenever she was worrying about her family.)

 

she waits.

 

"hyunjin?"

 

"yeah?"

 

"i asked you a question," heejin laughs softly. the way hyunjin was behaving, in addition to the oddly quiet great hall made her more uneasy.

 

"have you con-"

 

"not really," hyunjin replies, lying through her teeth. "i did it once when i was really young, but i haven't managed to conjure one again."

 

"can i ask why?" heejin says. she knows the girl is trying her hardest to sound casual, not wanting to force her into confessing anything.

 

"the short answer is it's because of my father," hyunjin tries not to look at heejin, knowing she would crack if she did. "he taught me, i did it, and now i can't do it anymore because he's gone."

 

"and the long answer?" heejin's eyes are still on her.

 

"i... don't know. i'm still working on it," hyunjin replies with a small smile.

 

jungeun returns to the table with jinsoul in tow, and heejin doesn't ask any more questions.

 

(they don't keep secrets between them, but heejin just knows that hyunjin is hiding something from her.)

 

every time the talk about charms or patronuses comes up, hyunjin goes mute, not knowing how to approach talking about the topic without feeling a crippling sense of loss and guilt. 

 

_did her dad wear glasses? how tall was he? was his animagus really a wolf, or was it just a figment of her imagination? fuck! why can't she remember anyhing?_

 

she makes an excuse about doing her homework right after dinner, and leaves before heejin can stop her.

 

/

 

hyunjin doesn't sleep well that night, and the next day feels even worse. herbology was terrible; hyunjin just had to go off to partner up with jiwoo, of all people, for an assignment, instead of heejin. she still has jungeun, but it's so unlike their usual arrangement that even jungeun is startled. not to mention, hyunjin's heart hurts seeing heejin look so down. 

 

but it's good for them, she thinks. at least she'll have some time to think through things without heejin literally breathing down her neck every five seconds (the girl likes to randomly kiss her on the neck, sue her), and to process whatever feelings she was dealing with.

 

being with just jungeun for once feels like a breath of fresh air.

 

"so, what's up?" jungeun asks first, seeing the pained look on hyunjin's face that hasn't worn off since lunch. "anything to do with the fact that i almost found you dead outside last night? or that heejin almost cried because you blew her off during herbology?"

 

"oh my god, it has everything to do with that," hyunjin starts. hyunjin hands her a blanket for her to cover up her gryffindor colours, but it's not like jungeun needs it.

 

(everyone in sixth year knows who she is, after yeojin had so publicly announced her name at the quidditch cup finals last year. and it wasn't like the slytherin common room was ever crowded, anyway. hyunjin was around, so no one was going to bully her for being there, or worse, tell on her.)

 

"i'm going to tell you everything, but i'm not telling heejin shit, so you know..."

 

"got it," jungeun answers coolly. she sits back on the sofa and pulls the blanket over her, ready for the story. 

 

hyunjin still hesitates.

 

"i won't tell on you, dumbass."

 

"i know! i trust you," hyunjin tells her. "this is just dumb."

 

jungeun gives her a look. kind of like a _"are you trying to tell me you're gay?"_ look. hyunjin knows, because jungeun's given her _that look_ before, when she was actually trying to tell heejin and jungeun that she was gay. 

 

"my patronus isn't a-"

 

"please don't tell me you think you like heejin," jungeun interrupts. 

 

"merlin's beard you're so fucking annoying can i just finish what i was saying-"

 

"because i already know you do-"

 

"what?"

 

"what?" 

 

"did you just say i'm fucking annoying?" jungeun asks in disbelief.

 

"sh, that's not important! repeat what you said."

 

jungeun rolls her eyes, when hyunjin actually sits up to listen to what she has to say. "i said, i already know you like heejin. i can tell. i don't need this talk from you. also she obviously likes you back, so i don't know what the hell you two are doing."

 

"wait. you can tell? like, i'm obvious about it? also, that was not what i was going to say, but it's close i guess," hyunjin continues thoughtfully. "my patronus changed. it used to be a wolf, like my dad's animagus. now it's a rabbit."

 

she doesn't know when or why jungeun chose to pick up and drink her tea at that exact moment, but it makes for a comedic sequence when she spits it all over hyunjin's face.

 

(well, comedic only to jungeun, probably. no amount of magic can absolve that moment of how gross it truly felt to be in hyunjin's shoes.) 

 

"i have so many questions. one, you can perform the fucking patronus charm? like i knew you were good at charms, but for real though, a patronus charm?! and two, i thought only like lasting trauma or marriage could change your patronus, and i'm not sure which category you fit into."

 

again, hyunjin doesn't learn her lesson and utters "i conjured my first corporeal patronus when i was six" just while jungeun was taking another sip of her tea.

 

she wipes off jungeun's tea from her face in disgust. "accio towel! oh my god, i hate you," she says while catching the flying towel from the air.

 

"YOU WERE SIX?" jungeun exclaims, before covering her own mouth realising she should probably not have spoken so loudly. some seventh year boy side eyes her from across the room where he has his face buried in a book. "isn't that like, rowena ravenclaw level of intelligence or something?"

 

"or so i've been told," hyunjin smirks. her face falls suddenly. "wait, but this isn't a good thing. my patronus was my dad's animagus."

 

"oh," jungeun replies softly. "and now it's heejin's."

 

"i feel like i betrayed him, or like i'm starting to forget him or something. i don't want that to happen, you know? i cried because i couldn't remember if he wore glasses or not."

 

hyunjin looks off again.

 

"hey, you were so young when it happened. don't beat yourself up over the small details, i'm sure your dad would be happy to know that you keep him in his heart all the time," jungeun continues. "it's hardly a bad thing that it's a rabbit now. i mean sure, it makes your 'i'm too cool for this school' exterior soften slightly, but what's so bad about it? your dad would be thrilled to know you found someone that you cared deeply for, and who loves you more than you love yourself."

 

again, hyunjin sits dazedly, contemplating her words. they stay like this for a few minutes, until jungeun makes a move to leave.

 

"alright buddy, i'll leave first. it's getting late and i don't want to get caught on my way out by a fellow prefect. i'll see you tomorrow. if you're having a crisis, just come to my room. don't run off to the forest again, got it?"

 

hyunjin nods once.

 

(jungeun doesn't leave just yet. she bolts to jinsoul's room to bid her goodbye, and hyunjin turns away before she has to witness them being exactly two lip bites away from tearing each other's clothes off right there and then.) 

 

_your dad would be thrilled to know you found someone that you cared deeply for, and who loves you more than you love yourself._

 

perhaps jungeun's right. but what if she's wrong?

 

nothing has ever worried her like this, not since fifth year.

 

/

 

_i have to write the proposal. i have to write the proposal. i have to write the damn proposal._

 

in between the whole patronus and heejin saga, absolutely sucking in herbology, and not having much of an appetite, hyunjin still has to deal with this: organising quidditch tryouts.

 

sure, she knows how to do it, and the actual tryouts are after the winter break, but it still stresses her out to no end. she'll be the one calling the shots, scouting for players with potential, rejecting people from the team, probably crushing some kid's dream and their self-esteem simultaneously along the way...

 

the worst part of it is that she has to submit some proposal for the quidditch tryouts by the weekend, and it's already thursday. 

 

her stress levels are way too high, and the she can't even turn to heejin for help. 

 

it had been a rough few weeks of turning down heejin's invitations to rewatch their favourite romcoms together, practising a vow of relative silence during transfiguration classes, and evading more personal questions. jungeun helped cover for her of course, convincing her that hyunjin just needs some time alone, but heejin obviously feels left out, and they know she does. the whole situation just sucks.

 

she considers coming clean, but what the heck was she going to say, "i'm a stupid piece of shit daughter to my dad and a stupid piece of shit friend to you, i like you a lot, sorry for being a dick, forgive me?"

 

it goes without saying that she hates hiding things from heejin. but this is her patronus— it's such a nuanced piece of magic that she just can't help but think that heejin would freak out upon hearing the truth. it's also about her father, in some ways, but she can't put her own thoughts into coherent words. part of it is guilt, part of it is sadness, and another part of it is soul-crushing fear that she's now tethered to heejin, moreover without her consent, for the rest of her life. 

 

everything just sucks. 

 

why does she need a freaking proposal for such a simple thing anyway?

 

hyunjin crushes the fifth piece of parchment that was meant to be the quidditch tryouts proposal and throws it into the bin. 

 

she can't do this.

 

(jinsoul ends up writing half of it for her, having had experience being the vice-captain and all, when hyunjin sneaks into her room right when she was preparing to sleep.

 

she also hugs hyunjin to sleep after the girl ends up crying her eyes out, probably from the stress.)

 

/

 

"would you rather... accidentally apparate into professor yang's bathroom when he's showering, _or_ -"

 

"the other option. i don't care what the other option is. the second option," hyunjin says seriously. that makes heejin giggle a little.

 

they haven't been able to joke around like this for a while. 

 

"i was going to say, or, would you rather accidentally apparate in front of a moving train!" 

 

(heejin had started it, asking if she would rather be a cat with wizardly powers, or lose all her wizardly powers and still remain human.

 

she decides a cat wouldn't be able to pursue a relationship with heejin, so she chooses the second option.

 

she counter-asks if heejin would rather marry jungeun but not have to kiss her, or kiss her once and not have to marry her. heejin chooses the latter, citing "personal choice" and "it probably wouldn't hurt to kiss her once if it meant i never have to hear her nagging for the rest of my life" as her reasons for that.)

 

"train, definitely train, a hundred times over. death is less painful than seeing that guy naked, for sure."

 

and with that, the conversation ends, because professor myoui looks like she's about to say something important.

 

hyunjin feels her hand itching to poke heejin's cheek and mess with her, like she always does, but restrains herself from doing so. 

 

it's different now. it's less natural. no amount of would-you-rathers could resolve whatever stupid tension they had between them.

 

they watch the professor turn herself into a penguin with just the snap of her fingers, and clap wordlessly, neither of them smiling or cheering like the rest of their classmates. 

 

/

 

it was bound to happen. heejin suggests they take a walk the day after, in the snow, after night had fallen. it's obviously illegal, but heejin's the prefect in charge of patrolling the hallways, so they can't get caught anyway. 

 

just the two of them, as heejin had requested. hyunjin gulped upon hearing that, knowing just what heejin wants to talk about.

 

"i know something's bothering you, and i know that jungeun knows what it is," heejin says without faltering. "and it definitely isn't the fact that we have feelings for each other, because that's an open secret."

 

her calm demeanour is surprising for once, but hyunjin hiding things from her must have been so hurtful that she can't bring herself to smile anymore. receiving a verbal confirmation that heejin does in fact like her back doesn't thrill her as much as she expected it to. hyunjin looks to their unjoined hands, and realises she doesn't know where to place her own hands anymore. she stuffs them into the pockets of her padded coat, trudging alongside heejin in the snow along the edge of the forbidden forest. 

 

it descends back into a really uncomfortable silence. at a particulary dark stretch, she's certain she hears some sort of demented wail. heejin looks like she's masking the fact that she's terrified, and it takes every single nerve in her body to not protectively hold her in her arms. they manage to make their way to their usual hangout spot by the lake wordlessly, before heejin starts venting about her being mute.

 

hyunjin knows it's infuriating. she understands heejin perfectly. she also wants to wipe the tears off the crying girl's face, and tell her that it isn't that big a deal. 

 

"i want to help you if you're going through a tough time! i can't do that if you don't even want to tell me what it is that's bothering you-"

 

"it's not bothering me that much! this isn't like fifth year okay? this is my problem."

 

"and since when have your problems not been my problems? i don't get it. do you need me- no, do you even want me around anymore? everything you do or say is so careful around me, and i hate it!" heejin retorts, her voice much louder than usual. 

 

"you know i love you, you know it. i loved you before i even knew i liked you. it's hard for me to hide things from you, but i can't tell you this one thing. i can't, i just... i can't, heejin."

 

"why can't you? i'm not that helpless girl on the hogwarts express anymore, hyunjin. i can handle it!" heejin pauses, turning away when she says the next part. "but i can't handle you avoiding me."

 

she doesn't respond to that. she _can't_ respond to that. she hangs her head, watching snow melt around her fallen tears.

 

heejin tells her she needs a breather, and leaves to take a walk in the forest. it pains her even more than she can fathom when she sees her hunched back retreat into the darkness. she's usually too scared to even venture in, much less in the dark. 

 

hyunjin has hurt her, badly. 

 

she's just about to go after heejin when she hears a wail again. 

 

but it's not the same wail. it's heejin. 

 

_screaming_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! finally introducing... the rest of loona uwu if they're not here yet they'll appear soon hehe um this got a bit long see y'all in the next chapter i guess


	3. and everything else

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ft. some nct and skz members, jang wonyoung, and the rest of loona
> 
> TW: use of homophobic language

hyunjin has never sprinted faster. heejin's shouts of her name get louder as she approaches, and she witnesses what the other girl is seeing.

 

"heejin!" she calls out, terrified.

 

a fucking _dementor_.

 

it's clear heejin doesn't stand a chance against the creature if she doesn't move soon. her cries of "stupefy!" get increasingly muffled, and hyunjin rushes to her side to pull her away before the creature can get close enough to suck away her soul. they run. heejin, as much as she tries, just isn't as athletic as her, and she stumbles over an overgrown tree root, bringing hyunjin down to the ground with her.

 

the slytherin stands up fast enough, placing herself between heejin and the dementor like a protective shield. heejin pulls herself up and tries to drag her away, but hyunjin doesn't budge when the ghost-like, black projection gets closer and closer.

 

"hyunjin! hyunjin, let's go, please," heejin cries.

 

 _breathe, think of your happiest memory, and then shout "expecto patronum"_.

 

but nothing comes to mind. she's stuck.

 

_fuck._

 

"shit, i'm really sorry i have to do this now," she breathes, turning and swooping to kiss heejin on the lips, leaving the girl shell-shocked as the dementor comes within striking range.

 

tearing her eyes away from heejin, she turns back with renewed confidence.

 

"expecto patronum!"

 

silver and white light shoots out of her wand, and the rabbit projection— as cute and tiny as it is— turns out to be a powerful force against the dementor.

 

the black figure retreats, and takes off deep into the forest. she feels heejin squeeze her hand tightly from behind her.

 

"lumos," hyunjin commands, illuminating the dark forest and checking for more dementors in the area. they hear some rustling, but it's probably just the leaves of the massive willow trees.

 

when she announces that it's all clear, heejin hits her on the back multiple times, even using her fists, but not inflicting too much damage. it's just enough to get hyunjin's attention, and for her to flash an awkward smile.

 

"i can't believe you took my first kiss in front of a dementor! i can't believe you, ugh! and seriously, lying to me about your patronus? is that what it was about? oh my god, we could have avoided this all along if you just told me about this whole situation."

 

"i didn't know how to," hyunjin replies, a hand scratching the back of her head awkwardly. "look, i didn't want to freak you out or anything. i asked professor minatozaki, and she says it might never change again because switching is so rare in the first place. so i'm like, bonded to you for the rest of my life... or something."

 

"i am freaking out," heejin laughs, tugging on hyunjin's hand and making a move to leave the eerie forest. "but if you ignore me for weeks on end again i will personally cut your head off myself. and if it helps, i'm pretty sure from the looks of my incomplete patronus that it's a cat."

 

"i can't believe you made me cry so much over your stupid patronus, oh my god, you're an actual idiot," heejin continues. "i know it's a big deal to you, but you have to tell me these things. i even thought you were trying to turn yourself heterosexual again, like _fuck,_ it was bad."

 

hyunjin winces, and apologises again.

 

"i'll forgive you if you teach me how to make my patronus look how it's supposed to be?"

 

"okay," hyunjin replies with a smile. when they are finally out of the woods and the illuminated gryffindor tower comes into view, she asks heejin to try conjuring her patronus.

 

"i might need some help with that," heejin says breathily, shifting her gaze downwards.

 

_oh. short-circuiting again._

 

she doesn't wait for heejin to tip-toe, before taking things into her own hands. heejin's hands come up to cup her face ever so gently as they kiss, this time slightly longer than what would be considered an innocent peck; there's probably no better feeling in the world than this, hyunjin thinks.

 

she's proven wrong again, because when heejin manages to cast the spell right, and she sees they patronuses dance around each other in the snow; her heart is cluttered with pride, love, happiness, relief, and excitement all at once, while her mind is filled with _heejin, heejin, i'm so sorry for everything, heejin, heejin, i love you, sweet, beautiful heejin, the love of my life._

 

and there's no better feeling than _that_.

 

/

 

hyunjin only realises how familiar she has become with the gryffindor prefects' bathroom when yeojin comes up to her one day to ask where it is.

 

"down the hallway to the right, take a left at the second corridor you see and then go all the way to the end. it's a red and gold door, you can't miss it."

 

"uh, do i want to know how you know that so well?"

 

"nope, bye!" hyunjin sprints off, only realising yeojin too late isn't a prefect and worse, is a hufflepuff.

 

heejin comes up to her fuming a few minutes after, having been caught in what is now deemed "the green slime calamity" by the school newspaper. hyunjin was probably the reason why she got caught in the middle of yeojin's revenge plot (jungeun had sent her a howler that read out her diary entries in the middle of the great hall, to get back at her for the whole quidditch finals fiasco, hence why yeojin decided to flood the entire prefects' bathroom with slime, even though jungeun had conveniently left a minute earlier than heejin did), and she revokes hyunjin's kissing privileges for two weeks.

 

they barely make it through three days before heejin caves, though. you can't blame her when hyunjin was looking _that_ fine after quidditch practice, you just can't!

 

and honestly? thank merlin for the captains-only bathroom.

 

/

 

winter break is a wonderful, and much needed break from all the studying and drama.

 

over letters, heejin insists that hyunjin has to counter-bring her on a "date", referring to the time hyunjin had followed heejin around seoul without her wand for two days. this time a magical date, in the most literal and figurative sense.

 

(jungeun voluntarily uninvites herself, without an excuse this time. heejin had proudly proclaimed that "it's a date for us two!")

 

hyunjin is highly concerned about heejin's use of the word "date" because they haven't exactly established themselves as anything other than friends who make out now and then, and hyunjin is constantly puzzled with where heejin stands on them being girlfriends or whatever, but forget that for now. she has to plan a day out with heejin! send help! empty of ideas, she sends jungeun a howler— because it's a goddamn emergency— and asks her to recommend places to visit.

 

jungeun sends her a single piece of parchment back with "diagon alley" and "fuck you, this howler came when i was eating with my grandmother" written on it. she returns with another howler that screams "thank you it's perfect".

 

it _is_ a perfect spot for them. there were joke shops, broom shops, bookshops— anything and everything.

 

when she meets heejin exactly a week after winter break starts, it's at myeongdong, a street away from the famed alley. this time, the girl is dressed more witch-like, in a long pale blue trench coat that dons deep pockets for her to keep her wand in. hyunjin opts for her casual black robe, and thinks that she would never look as good in comparison to heejin, simply because muggle fashion evolves way too fast for the wizarding world to ever catch on.

 

(or, maybe it's just because it's heejin and her ability to make anything look good. we'll never know.)

 

she can't stop smiling, despite not being able to sleep well in anticipation for this "date" or whatever. while she's dragging heejin deep into the familiar, seemingly abandoned alleyway, the girl being dragged suddenly speaks up.

 

"uh, hyunjin? what are we doing in an _alley_?” heejin asks, incredulous. a stray cat meows as if to emphasise her point. the smile she had been holding back broadens on her face, and heejin looks almost nervous.

 

"this is the entrance to diagon-"

 

"if you're actually going to kiss me here i will kill you, i swear. i will not let our first kiss in public be in a dingy alley that smells like urine!"

 

they stare at each other for a moment. hyunjin's grin impossibly widens as heejin holds her mortified face with both her hands.

 

"oh. diagon alley. i see," heejin mumbles, as hyunjin peels her hands from her face and holds them instead. "okay look i thought- you know the movies i always watch? the stupid romantic comedies? like, somehow the lead actors end up in some strange alleyway or corner and end up like... nevermind. forget i said like, anything, oh my god."

 

"i wasn't going to kiss you until after the date," hyunjin replies with a laugh. "i had it all planned out already. but now that you've mentioned it, i might as well..."

 

hyunjin leans forward abruptly, her hands now on heejin's shoulders to stop her from retreating. she sees heejin's eyes flutter close out of habit, her lips ghosting over heejin's own.

 

but it never happens, because hyunjin kisses her cheek instead, and runs away to the sounds of heejin's whines of "kim hyunjin!"

 

/

 

diagon alley is fun. heejin is fun. they hold hands and have a good time. everything is going according to plan, and everything is going great!

 

then, things take an interesting turn. they enter the massive three-storey tall joke shop called _wonnie's wizard wheezes_ , and hyunjin almost falls to the ground at the sight of park chaewon manning the cashier.

 

"you're THE wonnie? what the heck, park chaewon!" hyunjin lets heejin go, and rushes to wrap chaewon in a tight hug.

 

"no way! kim hyunjin, _shit_. i thought i'd never see you again," wonnie— no, chaewon— melts into the hug, much like what heejin does all the time.

 

(heejin tells her later that she did in fact, feel everything from confusion, to jealousy, to anger at the fact that hyunjin had the nerve to let go of her hand to run into the arms of another woman.)

 

hyunjin isn't oblivious to the eyes boring holes into her head from behind her. she turns sheepishly to take heejin's hand to introduce her to chaewon.

 

"heejin, meet chaewon, my childhood friend who used to be a squib loser but now actually owns the biggest joke shop in all of diagon alley. chaewon, meet heejin, my uh-" she pauses, panicking.

 

_my what! your what, hyunjin? your what!_

 

"girlfriend," heejin says it for her, extending her hand with a bright smile. hyunjin has to blink hard twice, do a double take, and receive a hard nudge into her ribs from heejin before recovering.

 

 _girlfriend_. she bites the inside of her mouth to keep herself from smiling too widely.

 

(heejin also pretends her heart isn't doing flips at the sound of that word.)

 

the squib loser chaewon, as heejin finds out, has known hyunjin since birth. she had moved to seoul a few years before hyunjin's family did, effectively ending their friendship since chaewon couldn't attend hogwarts, being a non-wizard and all. but her neighbour of fifteen years is here now, doing well for herself, and hyunjin couldn't be happier for her.

 

"so, a girlfriend? the last time we spoke, you were still dating other hyunjin, like boy-hyunjin."

 

"i found out a few things about myself," hyunjin says with a laugh, looking at heejin who is on the second level, picking out their favourite brand of fart bombs. the girl turns and waves the nasty plastic packets in the air excitedly, earning herself a grin from hyunjin.

 

"well if they like my stuff then they're automatically allowed to date you," chaewon replies. "she looks precious. bet there are people who will break your leg if you hurt her."

 

hyunjin nods, thinking of jungeun and how scary protective the girl can be over heejin and herself. she wouldn't stand a chance.

 

"i want one too," chaewon sighs.

 

"what, a g-girlfriend?" hyunjin stumbles over the word. it is her first time using it after all.

 

"not a _guh guh guh_ girlfriend," chaewon mocks, and hyunjin has to slap her on the arm to get her to stop doing that. "i want a heejin. you really got lucky there, dude."

 

"well too bad, she's mine," hyunjin says under her breath as an energetic heejin approaches them with a basket full of interesting things— moving chocolate eyeballs, poker cards that verbally insult you based on your skill level in poker, voice-changing pills and more.

 

chaewon coughs to hide her amusement as hyunjin takes the basket from her, andpretends like she didn't just claim heejin, a whole person, as _hers_. they leave soon enough, but not before chaewon insists that heejin give her her number so they could go out together someday, all three of them.

 

(heejin pretends not to notice chaewon grabbing her girlfriend by the collar on their way out and threatening her to "treat heejin well or else", and the girl complaining, "you're _my_ friend, shouldn't you be threatening her instead?!")

 

the alley seems almost never-ending. they pass by exactly three broom shops (and only enter one, because hyunjin geeks out over the newest broomsticks and has to get threatened to have her kissing privileges revoked again), five book stores (they buy each other a book), and a candy store (also known as: time to stock up on chocolate frogs). as the day winds down, they seem to walk closer together, interlocking their free hands. at some point, hyunjin puts their joint hands into her jacket pocket for added warmth.

 

(hyunjin silently sends her thanks to the person who invented the 'endless' bag. anything that she puts inside the bag is directly teleported to the chest in her house, and saves them the trouble of having to hold it themselves. that's one more free hand, and one more excuse to touch heejin's face. or hold her waist. or brush away the baby hairs from her eyes. or poke her cheek. or tie her shoelaces for her. or hug her from the back. or pick up pretty dried leaves from the floor to gift her. or adjust her cute scarf. or... you get the idea.)

 

when night falls, snow does too. the white flakes that dot heejin's hair and the look of wonder of her face literally take her breath away, and she really, really, really tries not to kiss her right then and there; heejin's a stupid romantic, and as much as she hates to admit it, she is too. she wants to take her to the ferris wheel, wait for them to get to the top, and proclaim her love for the girl to the heavens. then, they will inevitably lean in and then-

 

and _then_ , she's broken out of her daydream.

 

heejin spins her around to kiss her herself, all inhibitions gone, all ideas of the 'perfect' kiss out of the window. just two girls, the moonlight, the falling snow, and a couple of bystanders who couldn't care less what they were doing. heejin's hands reach up again out of habit, and hyunjin pulls her closer by the waist.

 

_short. circuiting._

 

when they pull apart and press their foreheads together, there's no grand proclamation of their love, no fireworks, no words needed, just silly grins and a bunch of giggling.

 

they already know anyway.

 

/

 

they return to school in a few weeks, but as an official couple this time. hyunjin receives a few embarrassing hollers and whistles from her quidditch teammates, and a particularly hard pat on the back by sooyoung during her charms class.

 

she manages the get sooyoung back when she realises the older girl has it bad for the head girl. hyunjin painfully elbows her in the ribs every time jiwoo does anything.

 

jiwoo raises her hand to ask a question. _nudge_. jiwoo drops her wand and picks it up. _nudge_. jiwoo smiles and nods at the professor's words. _hard nudge._ jiwoo does anything. _nudge_.

 

"i swear to salazar slytherin if you do not keep your fucking elbow to yourself i am going to make sure you and heejin never get to see your firstborn child."

 

"you're so fucking dramatic, sooyoung. has anyone told you that you need to loosen up? have some fun! be more like... jiwoo," hyunjin adds with an amused smile, as they both turn to look at jiwoo, now executing a happy dance for being the only one (other than hyunjin and sooyoung, again) to execute a nonverbal water-making spell. hyunjin just had to laugh when sooyoung lets out _"what the fuuuck i'm fucked fucked fucked!"_ and a guttural groan.

 

(and of course, she finally gains the confidence to perform the patronus charm perfectly, like the professor wanted. professor yoo had shaken her head in what looked like admiration and disbelief, and asked if she wanted to join her research team next year. hyunjin didn't even know charms research was a thing, but still said yes anyway.

 

the prospect of working with the professor seemed even better after heejin had given her a congratulatory kiss on the cheek for that. being talented sure does have additional... _perks_.)

 

/

 

she manages to organise the slytherin team tryouts without much of a problem. jinsoul is a great help, and sooyoung is too, but only to a morally-obligated extent.

 

the second and third year children stream onto the field, and hyunjin gets flashbacks to when she was in their position, waiting anxiously for a chance to prove herself worthy.

 

funny how so many things have changed since then.

 

for starters, vivi isn't attending school with her anymore. she hears rumours about the woman training with the hong kong hornets— her hometown quidditch team— while working for a newspaper as a freelance writer, and wishes for a chance to properly thank her for everything she's done for her. she hears more often from haseul, weirdly enough, because the woman works in gringott's seoul branch as a banker. she doesn't dare ask what their relationship has come of, but hyunjin figures if anyone could withstand the pain of a long-distance relationship, it's vivi and haseul.

 

and now, she has jungeun in the stands, jinsoul to back her up; and heck, even sooyoung and jiwoo supporting her.

 

of course, heejin as well. but there's not much else to say about the _girlfriend_ that nobody doesn't know already.

 

things go well, until she makes the mistake of letting jinsoul play keeper against a bunch of rookies. the girl gets this odd fire in her eyes whenever jungeun is in the stands. hyunjin should have known.

 

holding her breath, she watches a sweet-looking second year named wonyoung try to throw the quaffle past the best keeper in the school. her cute looks can't make up for the fact that it's a weak throw, and hyunjin winces in anticipation.

 

"take that!" and there goes their fifth potential chaser, running off while crying. the team is running low on chasers as it is, and the deficit will become more apparent once she steps down next season.

 

she ignores the sad thought of graduating from the team, and makes their seeker hyejoo play as keeper instead. at least that will level the playing field, somewhat.

 

(jinsoul only agrees to ditch the broomstick when hyunjin tells her that she had left the captains-only bathroom door unlocked, and that she's free to use it for _"whatever the hell you want to do with jungeun, just clean up after, please."_ )

 

heejin waits for her outside the stadium for when she's done packing up her stuff. the bathroom seems locked when hyunjin tries to access it, so she decides to take the shower she desperately needs back at the dungeons instead.

 

besides, heejin probably thinks she looks _kinda hot_ in her jersey. her suspicions are confirmed when heejin gets a coughing fit just from seeing her emerge from the gates. the rosiness on her cheeks speak for themselves.

 

"can you please warn me next time if you're not going to shower?" heejin takes her hand, and they head off for the dungeons.

 

"it's the jersey, isn't it? you're secretly liking this," hyunjin laughs, gesturing up and down at herself.

 

heejin's eyes widen at the insinuation. "no, no, no, no no no no no. no. no! oh my god," heejin flicks her on the arm when she guffaws. the gryffindor's cheek reddens to the bright shade of her house colour. "quit messing with me! it's because you stink and, stop laughing! i'm going to take your privileges a-"

 

hyunjin steps in front of her abruptly, and heejin just loses track of whatever the hell she was saying. because _look at her, shit!_ the athlete raises her eyebrows, as if to challenge her.

 

(okay, maybe hyunjin did make some points there.)

 

"not today, sweetie. i'm taking away _your_ kissing privileges until you admit that i'm," hyunjin adds, pausing for emphasis and gesturing to herself again like a fool, "a full course meal in this."

 

"you don't- that's my line and hey, i can't run as fast as you, asshole!"

 

when heejin finally catches up to her at the entrance to the main tower, they forget all their childish threats, and heejin admits that yes, hyunjin does look _really really good_ in her jersey. she smiles so widely that it physically hurts, and heejin has to quite literally kiss the smile off her face.

 

/

 

quidditch season rolls around faster than expected. hyunjin feels an inexplicable sense of loss and nostalgia.

 

sure, she will get to help out and still play some quidditch next year, like jinsoul and sooyoung do. it's just not the same. next year, she'll be sitting in the stands instead of where she currently is, waiting to walk onto the field with her broom in hand.

 

"um, hyunjin?" she turns around at the sound of her name. the timid voice belongs to wonyoung, already towering over her even though she's four years younger.

 

(hyunjin had ran after the second year jinsoul scared off to get her to try other positions. the girl turned out to be a pretty decent keeper herself, and hyunjin took her into the team without hesitation.)

 

"i don't think i should play today, my hands are really sweaty and i'm really nervous and i hurled out my lunch just now... like what if i cost everyone the game because i can't keep the rest of my lunch in later? oh my god, i'm going to hurl again, oh my god."

 

wonyoung paces around in front of her, and hyunjin laughs at the nervous energy the girl exudes. hyunjin grabs her by the shoulders, and sits her down by one of the benches. following hyunjin's advice, wonyoung takes a few deep breaths.

 

and then she starts rambling again.

 

hyunjin stops her rant by interrupting her. "hey you wanna know what heejin said about you?"

 

"h-heejin?! like your girlfriend?"

 

"yeah, that one," hyunjin flashes a wide smile. "she said i did the right thing calling you back to try out as keeper, because you're amazing. perhaps in a few years you'll be even better than jinsoul, but don't tell her we said that."

 

"really? you really mean that?" wonyoung looks more hopeful, and less dizzy.

 

hyunjin nods. she digs around the box of equipment beside her, fishing out a bag of chalk.

 

"now dry your hands. we're going to destroy hufflepuff!"

 

they do indeed, destroy hufflepuff. but somehow, seeing wonyoung excel made her more happy than the win itself.

 

hyunjin can't help but feel like she's a real captain now.

 

/

 

"do you want kids?"

 

heejin spits out the water she's drinking, and hyunjin gets some flashbacks to jungeun doing the exact same thing. seriously, what is with her and bad timing?

 

heejin coughs out the rest of the water from the lungs, sputtering, "hyunjin, we're barely eighteen."

 

"yeah, i know. but i feel like a mum with all my kids every quidditch practice," hyunjin continues. heejin sits back down beside her, sneaking an arm behind her waist and snuggling into her. "the younger ones always come to me for advice, wonyoung especially. and it got me thinking if i would be a good mother."

 

"wonyoung loves you. i'm sure your real kids will too," heejin shifts in her place to rest her head on hyunjin's shoulder. the sofa can fit five people, but they occupy less than a quarter of it. "you don't have to worry about anything, if that's what this is about. you're protective, you're strong, you're already a good mentor to your quidditch kids. you'll be great."

 

hyunjin’s throat goes dry as she figures out a reply, her heart racing in her chest as she shifts her gaze onto the girl in her arms. “you really think that?”

 

“i know that,” heejin assures her.

 

"well if you think so then it's true... thank you," hyunjin says, pressing a kiss onto heejin's forehead as she softly adds, "they're going to be your kids too, you know."

 

"they better be."

 

/

 

slytherin beats out gryffindor way too easily, for which jungeun flicks her on the forehead twice for not even giving their house a chance. heejin hits her on the arm too, but only after jungeun threatens to report her for "treasonous behaviour".

 

jinsoul smartly keeps her mouth shut during the entire exchange, and only hi-fives hyunjin with a pleased smile after their girlfriends had walked ahead of them.

 

they meet ravenclaw in the finals, as expected. their roster looks almost the same as last year's, but the team has gotten exponentially better. for the first time this season, the game's result is in question for them.

 

and for the first time since fourth year, heejin won't be in the stands cheering for her.

 

jiwoo had found out about her sneaking out on that one prefects' meeting to meet hyunjin, after jinsoul had accidentally let slip of the fact that she had seen them two together that day. as a punishment, she has to patrol the outside of the stadium and make sure no one was going to be setting off dungbombs during the game. not a very fun job at all. the head girl refused to let her off and said it was meant to be an "example" for the rest of the prefects.

 

hyunjin would have also attacked her as an "example", but heejin stopped her before jiwoo can take any points away from slytherin. jiwoo will pay for it in the next charms lesson, provided sooyoung isn't there to lay her life down to protect the girl.

 

couple that with an entire team looking to her for assurance? hyunjin is Stressed, with a capital S.

 

a runner tells them it's half an hour before play starts, which means pep talk time. she remembers sooyoung's riveting speech from last year, but knows she isn't charismatic enough to pull that off. jinsoul had adviced her to smile and be positive, but she isn't good at that either. jungeun told her to be honest, but she might crack and reveal how nervous she actually is. none of the options were great.

 

"hey hyejoo, where's hyunjin?"

 

her head snaps up at the familiar voice.

 

"pacing around over there," hyejoo informs.

 

it's heejin, a face that brings relief, bliss and confusion all at once.

 

"jiwoo gave me a pass after i begged to never do it again. i think she kind of knew i was going to sneak off during the game anyway," heejin whispers into her ear as they hug. hyunjin leans in, but she deftly dodges the kiss, adding, "not in front of your kids!"

 

indeed, hyunjin looks up and makes eye contact with wonyoung who looks like a deer caught in headlights. she turns quickly, making for a pretty comical sight. they both awkwardly clear their throats at the same time.

 

hyunjin takes them to a more secluded corner. "alright, so why are you really here? please say it's the jersey-"

 

"it's not the jersey, oh my god," heejin replies in annoyance. hyunjin covers her mouth to laugh at this. "i thought i'd come in and watch on proudly by the side as you give your pep talk."

 

"ah, about that... i have no idea how i'm going to do that."

 

"a pep talk? you're their captain. just talk to them," heejin says it like it is the easiest thing in the world, and hyunjin feels tempted to believe her. "okay, tell me what you want from this game."

 

"i want to win" is a programmed response of hers, but somehow she feels she wouldn't believe herself if she said it aloud.

 

"i just want us to play a good game, the kind where everyone feels good about themselves afterwards. i don't even care if we lose. i would hate to see them cry, especially the younger ones. that's... that's not very slytherin of me, is it?"

 

"well it isn't," heejin says, her tone laced with what can only be pride. "but it is very hyunjin of you to do that. you should tell them that, captain."

 

with a few more words of assurance, a pat on the back and a kiss for good luck, hyunjin is ready.

 

not for the game, for the pep talk.

 

/

 

_"i'm not sure how i'm supposed to do this, but i'll try my best alright? firstly, let me thank all of you guys for being such wonderful teammates, thank you for listening to me and trusting me, and thank you for destroying gryffindor and hufflepuff with me. we've been pretty impressive, i must say." that earns her a few laughs._

 

she sees donghyuck soar through the air, the quaffle in his hands, and he gives her a nod in the direction he wants her to go. calling for the other chasers, they form some kind of flying huddle, and the quaffle gets passed to hyunjin in the midst of it all.

 

ravenclaw gets confused, and hardly notice the switch. the three chasers in green jerseys diverge from their formation, and five blue streaks go after donghyuck.

 

that's when hyunjin scores.

 

"TEN POINTS TO SLYTHERIN!"

 

_"it has been a long journey for me. but it hasn't been very easy either. i didn't have many friends and quidditch was my sole outlet and much of my self-worth was placed in how well i did in this sport, you know? i really wanted to win, and i did. but i thought i was happy, but i wasn't truly happy."_

 

hyunjin scans the field as her house erupts in cheers. the ravenclaw chasers and beater receive an earful from their captain, a beater himself. he's distracted for a moment and ironically gets a bludger sent his way by one of slytherin's beaters. the captain gets knocked off his broomstick, tumbling a few feet.

 

hyejoo is in a distance, roaming around. she hasn't spotted the snitch, but it's too early into the game anyway.

 

and then there's renjun, a ravenclaw chaser, coming straight at her with the quaffle tucked into his abdomen with his left hand. it's too late to do anything, and she prepares for the impact.

 

renjun sends her flying straight into the arena wall, but not hard enough to injure her. it does mildly annoy her though, beyond the slight dizziness from the impact.

 

(she can already picture jungeun jumping in her seat calling for a foul.)

 

he scores, but she gets him back the next play with an assist of her own. changbin throws the quaffle in perfectly, and they are back ahead by ten points.

 

_"i had a really tough time last year, and my life was a mess. i skipped classes, went to the headmaster's office so often i can now call headmaster park my friend, and just had a really tough time in general. i had nothing going for me, except quidditch, and a few other things." she looks up, and locks eyes with heejin. the girl flashes a knowing smile._

 

twenty minutes pass, and the game has been tight throughout. ravenclaw is starting to use the tactics that hyunjin specifically warned her team not to reciprocate.

 

a chaser in blue flies too close to hyunjin when she receives the quaffle from changbin. the girl sneers at her, and she only hears the word 'dyke' come out of her mouth before hyunjin takes off and leaves her in the dust, vehemently ignoring any anger bubbling in her chest.

 

the keeper blocks her shot, giving a shout of joy that seemed more aimed at her than anything else. the throw was weak.

 

she shakes her head, hoping to clear out the feelings of frustration and injustice. that's when she spots the red and gold, amidst the green and silver.

 

an eagerness to do her friends and her girlfriend proud replaces the negativity instantly. it _is_ that easy.

 

(but just for the record, she did get that ravenclaw bitch back. she does it legally, of course, by asking jisung and eunbin to send the bludger her way.)

 

_"quidditch kept me out of trouble, i'm sure most of you remember sooyoung's worst trainings. i literally couldn't get up sometimes to cause the trouble i wanted to cause." some of her teammates groan at the memory, one even shouting "yours were hell too!", to which all of them nodded in unison. hyunjin just laughs. "you guys are strong, quit complaining!"_

 

the burning in her thighs starts as it always does: with an ache. she can even feel a growing bruise in her right shoulder, and an inexplainable pain in her temple from when renjun collided into her again on purpose. from the grimaces of their opponents, it seems like the fatigue is getting to them as well. but her team, dare she say, is hanging on better than ravenclaw is.

 

when renjun and the same girl try to intentionally knock into her again, it's way more clumsy, and she only needs to pull her broom up suddenly for the two chasers to collide into each other.

 

("THAT'S THE STUFF! TAKE THAT RAVENCLAW!" sooyoung's voice rings through the stadium. how fitting was it that she was the one that taught hyunjin that neat little trick?

 

"SOOYOUNG GET OUT OF HERE _I'M_ THE ANNOUNCER!")

 

_"anyways, that's when i found out how much joy this sport brought me. it's not just the game, it's experiencing your entire house cheering for you, your friends in the stands waving at you, the wind on your face as you soar through the air. it's screaming so loudly that your own ears hurt when you see that hyejoo has the golden snitch." the seeker dips her head in embarrassment as the rest of the team pats her on the back._

 

the game slows down slightly, and she has time to throw wonyoung a thumbs-up to ask if she's alright. the keeper shoots her a smile and enthusiastically nods instead of throwing a thumbs-up back, and it does make her smile too.

 

hyejoo, however, is out of sight. and so is the other team's seeker.

 

she ignores the possibility of the game ending soon, and cheers with her house as donghyuck scores through the legs of the faltering keeper.

 

_"it's also walking out of the stadium and into the arms of your supporters, your friends, your loved ones." hyunjin shifts her gaze off of hyejoo and onto the person leaning against the lockers in the corner._

 

"hey, you! ask your goonies to stop aiming the bludger at my face."

 

hyunjin speeds up, passing the quaffle in her hand to changbin. he executes a fake pass back to hyunjin, causing the ravenclaw girl taunting her to flinch for some reason.

 

"did you hear me? i said ask your damn goonies to stop!"

 

"i'm sorry, what? i can't hear you over your raging homophobia."

 

the girl— hyunjin doesn't even know her name— looks like she's about to explode. she again, steers too closely to hyunjin. this time, she makes sure to grab hyunjin by the collar, and yank her hard.

 

hyunjin only has time to stare in shock before she's falling.

 

_"today i want us to play the game the right way. we'll honour the sport. no tricks, no foul play, no taunting. ravenclaw will get into our heads, and we won't let it get to us."_

 

her hands reach desperately for her broom. she's never fallen off her broom in game before, not from this height anyway. she can see the stands, and the crowd, all seemingly paused in time. a collective gasp rings out the arena.

 

_this is how i die, oh my god, i'll never see heejin again. or mum. or grandpa and grandma, motherfuck-_

 

a pair of arms grab her mid-air, and she hears a grunt before realising she's saved.

 

she only manages a quick sigh of relief before her broom falls right into her arms, and she mounts it quickly enough. the breath the entire arena was holding is replaced by a celebratory cheer.

 

"captain! i'm sorry i left the goal open!"

 

in that instance, ravenclaw scores. it's the bitch, whooping for joy. then, jeers erupt from the stands.

 

both houses are booing the ravenclaw chaser.

 

"no, you did good wonyoung! you did good. you saved my life. thank you!"

 

_"i've learnt that it's more than just winning, and i want you guys to know that too. so today, no matter the result, i don't want any tears to be shed. only smiles, got it?"_

 

if this was any other team, the girl would have just set herself up for a public execution. bludgers would be sent her way instantly and relentlessly. she would be shoved and roughed up consistently for showing such blatant disrespect. seekers may stop their chase for the golden snitch just to get at her. someone from the stands might even secretly set her broomstick on fire for it.

 

but this is hyunjin's team. and hyunjin's house.

 

she flashes a smile instead, and waves to her home crowd. the rest of her team raise a thumbs-up at her show of amicability, and the jeering stops.

 

"A HUNDRED AND TWENTY TO A HUNDRED, RAVENCLAW LEADS! CHANGBIN GETS THE QUAFFLE FROM THE KEEPER, AND PASSES IT OVER ALL THREE RAVENCLAW CHASERS! AND THERE THE QUAFFLE GOES... RIGHT INTO HYUNJIN'S OUTSTRETCHED HAND!"

 

her eyes zero in on her target, and she starts another race to the goalpost.

 

_"but of course, we'll still try our best to win. we wouldn't be slytherin if we don't, would we?"_

 

but before her quaffle manages to make it through the goal, the final whistle blows.

 

the snitch has been caught.

 

/

 

ravenclaw supporters stream onto the field, and it is instantly chaotic. hyunjin groans and presses the side of her temple that's still buzzing with a pain she can't explain. it doesn't work, and her head still hurts. at least no one is trying to challenge the outcome of the game. not yet, anyway. that would be even more of a headache.

 

slytherin won, fair and square. no thanks to hyejoo again. hyunjin ruffles her hair and calls her a "beast", to which the girl only gives a small, embarrased smile. the team doesn't lift her up as they did last year, because things look like they could be escalating. ravenclaw looks murderous, and while the players haven't technically challenged the outcome of the game, their belligerent behaviour and hard glares tell hyunjin that they haven't fully accepted it either.

 

she still gives everyone on her team a pat on the back (and a hug for wonyoung, her life saviour), and tells them it was a job well done. when headmaster park approaches to congratulate them, it isn't all about their superior quidditch skills either: it was their collectedness, maturity and utmost showing of sportsmanship and teamwork; it was their attitude in the face of a sore-losing opponent; it was also a redemption arc for hyunjin, the angry teenager turned respected captain. the headmaster gives her a fist bump for that one.

 

as they await the official prize presentation of the game, hyunjin tries to look out for her friends. most of slytherin is still clearing out from the stands, so it wasn't weird that they were so slow to make it down to the field.

 

when they do though, they make sure to make a scene.

 

heejin is fuming, if her long strides and balled up fists are any indication. jungeun has to run to catch up to the hot-headed girl. jinsoul trails even further behind them, holding three wands, presumably heejin's, jungeun's and her own so that they wouldn't do anything stupid to get themselves in to trouble.

 

her girlfriend doesn't even spare a glance at her as she storms straight towards the bitch that made her fall off her broom.

 

oh. that's not ideal. the pain in her head resurfaces, probably presaging what was to come. 

 

(hyunjin's not going to lie, heejin being mad on her behalf is kind of hot. but still, however attractive it is, heejin doesn't need to engage the homophobe and warrant getting punched, or _worse_ , end up with a smear on her near-perfect track record.)

 

before heejin can even raise her hand to tap the girl's shoulder, hyunjin steps in front of her, and drags her away by the hand.

 

"let go of me! that asshole needs to be taught a-"

 

"YOU BITCH!"

 

they both turn to see jungeun pointing an accusatory finger at the now-offended girl, who's gaping at her.

 

jinsoul restrains her from the back as jungeun lifts up a fist, seemingly about to throw a punch. hyunjin has to sprint over to drag her other friend away by the hand, with jinsoul's help. heejin rushes over as well, to avoid standing around alone in a crowd of energetic ravenclaw students, if anything else.

 

hyunjin manages a glance back at the girl, who examines them with a sneer.

 

"fucking dykes," she repeats. hyunjin has to swallow back a curse. she turns away without so much as a lingering stare, afraid that she wouldn't be able to control her anger if she looked at her sickening face any longer. "a pureblood dating a mudblood, how interesting. they'll let anyone do anything they want these days-"

 

everything happens in a flash. she sees a streak of black fly across her eyes, hears the sound of bone hitting flesh, and barely registers the screams before she's turning around. there's a piercing pain in her temple that is amplified in that instant.

 

the scene that greets her is one she'll probably never forget: heejin with a bloodied fist, and that ravenclaw chaser writhing on the floor, everyone seemingly pasued in time out of shock-- before she blacks out herself, her world spinning away into a calm darkness as she falls face first to the ground.

 

/

 

(heejin hasn't left hyunjin's bedside since she got sent to the infirmary.

 

okay so maybe punching the girl wasn't a good idea after all— though she did explain her reasons for inciting such violence and got away with added patrol duty as punishment. mdm im did manage to fix the girl's broken nose to some extent, as she did heejin's fractured knuckles. the girl hadn't so much as looked in heejin's direction since, scrambling out of the infirmary once the healer was done with her. heejin thinks getting extra patrol duty for inflicting pain on that mother bleeper was— dare she say— pretty worth it.

 

except now her girlfriend's in her fifteenth straight hour of passing out, and having already spent one sleepless night in the gryffindor towers per mdm im's instructions, twisting and turning and cursing whenever she so much as touched her injured hand, heejin doesn't dare think it was worth it at all.

 

in the morning, mdm im had told her that hyunjin's fainting spell was not so much of a cause, but a symptom of a concussion she suffered during the game from the constant collisions. her guilt dissipates, replaced by a familiar fiery hot rage. her fist was three bad thoughts away from having a chat with renjun's face for that one, but she decides to forgive him after he turns up by hyunjin's bedside to apologise for his aggression.

 

heejin does put a little jinx on him though— renjun will be walking around for days with a tail trailing behind him. slightly gross, but also worth it. all in the name of retribution for her beloved.

 

still, the satisfaction that comes with getting back at them is overshadowed by the worry she has for hyunjin. jungeun brings her food so she doesn't go hungry, but she can't stomach more than a few bites of whatever lunch was. she prodes hyunjin here and there, even massaging her probably-aching thighs, singing their fabourite songs, all to no avail. hyunjin's eyes are glued shut.

 

before night falls again, mdm im tells her hyunjin will probably be awake soon, perhaps by the next morning. she'll be fine, just tired if and when she wakes up. she heaves a huge sigh of relief, hugging a visiting jiwoo tightly after receiving the good news.

 

at the twenty-eighth hour, jiwoo leaves with sooyoung, and she finally caves, wishing for a good dream while she sleeps with only her head resting on the bed, and hyunjin's hand in her non-bandaged one. )

 

(it's near midnight as heejin drifts into a wonder-filled slumber. jinsoul visits the infirmary, more to check up on heejin than hyunjin. as expected, the girl is dressed in her same sweater over a shirt and her tie off, her attire just way too flimsy to effectively withstand the cold. heejin is hunched over in her chair, head resting by hyunjin's side, legs trembling invoulntarily from the cold. she places a blanket around the girl's shoulders, and another on her freezing legs, careful not to wake her younger friend up. per jungeun's request she also makes sure that hyunjin is tucked in properly, safe from the chilly winter cold. as she makes a move to finally leave she observes the first snow falling from the windows, and smiles to herself.

 

hyunjin will be alright, and so will heejin.

 

when she reaches the dungeons, jungeun's already in her bed waiting for her, her open arms and wide smile a clear invitation for a warm and cuddly night ahead.)

 

jinsoul's right, and hyunjin recovers in no time. so does heejin's hand, with the help of (heejin swears by this) hyunjin's kisses to her knuckles.

 

life resumes as per normal. the trio share herbology class, hang out with jinsoul and even jiwoo on occasion; hyunjin teases sooyoung relentlessly in charms, and plays pick-up quidditch when she has free time; heejin's constantly surprising hyunjin with her vast collection of muggle romcoms in her smuggled laptop (she may be a prefect but she's not _jungeun_ ); jungeun and jinsoul are spending more time than ever with each other.

 

and just like that, year six draws to a close. slytherin wins the house cup to nobody's surprise, and jungeun promises to dock points from slytherin the first thing next year out of pure spite.

 

it's june already. they've taken their inconsequential finals exams, aced them, and all been promoted to seventh year. right before they leave for break, heejin makes a request. just the three of them hanging out, like old times.

 

"you do know that jungeun and i never agreed to be part of this trio we have going on right?" hyunjin laughs as heejin pulls them into hogsmeades' finest restaurant, three broomsticks.

 

"and what do you mean by 'like old times'? our friendship is barely three years old," jungeun adds. heejin doesn't even flinch.

 

"you guys act like i'm the only one holding the three of us together," heejin sighs, a hint of a smile showing. they get seated down by a window that overlooks hogsmeade, decorated by spring. hyunjin and heejin side by side, and jungeun opposite them, as always. "and yet you both secretly asked me what the other wanted for their birthdays. it's cute that you guys are still trying to convince me that you hate each other."

 

"i-"

 

"okay-"

 

heejin breaks into a giggle as her two best friends look away from each other, rolling their eyes.

 

"let's just-" jungeun clears her throat, grabbing a flying menu from the air.

 

hyunjin snorts. "yeah, let's just order."

 

/

 

"no, i swear to albus dumbledore that it won't work! disarming charms are meant to disarm, you're just gonna get proven wrong," hyunjin asserts. jungeun raises her eyebrows and wraps her other hand around her wand this time, muttering a "do it".

 

their leftover food turns cold because of the stupid challenge, and heejin sips the last of her butterbeer, amused at the situation. right before hyunjin casts the spell though, she wraps her own hands tightly around jungeun's wand, but not without sighing and making a comment about how foolish they were being.

 

as usual, hyunjin and jungeun just don't care. hyunjin flicks her wand with a soft _"expelliarmus!"_.

 

the wand rips through the air from their hands despite their best efforts to hold it down. the wand clatters noisily as it lands on the floor a few feet away from them. hyunjin gives a holler in celebration, while jungeun dips her head, producing a galleon from her pocket and shoving it into hyunjin's outstretched hand.

 

heejin looks around for the wand, and watches a stranger pick it up.

 

"hey, is this any of yours?" a familiar voice asks.

 

hyunjin reaches for jungeun's wand, eyes flitting to the owner of the voice, and barely hears her own voice when she says, "oh yeah, thanks... hyunjin."

 

(heejin audibly gasps. she'd never seen the mysterious hwang hyunjin that her girlfriend used to date, and has only ever heard his name in passing. he was a slytherin too, but hyunjin's preference for heejin's room and the gryffindor towers meant heejin never really got to see the rest of the slytherin cohort, including _this guy_. hyunjin's first kiss. she doesn't know what to make of him, not yet anyway, not when hyunjin epitomises "kiss-and-not-tell" as personality trait.)

 

hyunjin assumes she looks terrified to have come across her ex while she was with heejin, an occurrence that strangely hasn't had the chance to unfold yet, until now. she is terrified. her eyes dart involuntarily between heejin (who's staring at boy-hyunjin) and hyunjin (who's staring at her).

 

well, it's been years, but it's still awkward.

 

she's still searching for words to say when hyunjin finally cracks a smile at her. the tension seems to diffuse, and she laughs softly as well. she still remembers the last conversation they had with each other. there were no hard feelings, but they didn't manage to remain friends either.

 

"hey, i'm the ex-boyfriend that got her to realise she liked girls," hyunjin sticks out a hand to heejin with a wide smile. _no hard feelings._ "you must be the one that has her smiling like a fool all the time. it's nice to finally put a face to the name."

 

"you must be hyunjin, then. likewise," heejin replies, taking his hand with a little smile. jungeun just nods at him, and hyunjin seems satisfied with just that.

 

hyunjin asks heejin and jungeun about the subjects they're taking, which honestly isn't too bad of a conversation starter. but if she could, hyunjin would much rather be in curled up in a hole underground. she'd never thought they would cross paths like this. hyunjin and heejin being friendly though, was a pleasant surprise, but it wasn't like hwang hyunjin ever had trouble being likeable anyway. he tells a joke that she misses, and heejin actually laughs along with him.

 

 _cool_.

 

a hufflepuff boy walks by their table, stopping to ruffle hyunjin's hair, to his annoyance. in between whispers, it seemed like he was trying to tell him that the rest of his group of friends were leaving already.

 

"alright, alright i'll go soon, just wait a little while," hyunjin says, shooing the cheery hufflepuff away. hyunjin notices that his stare lingers a little longer than necessary on the boy before he turns his attention back on the girls. _interesting_. "guess i'll see you guys around? maybe stop trying to avoid me whenever you're with heejin so i can say hi."

 

"oh my god, i... okay, yeah, of course. i'll see you around, hyunjin," she replies. he finally leaves, and she lets out the groan she's been holding back. hyunjin nearly cracks her skull open from how hard she drops her head on the table.

 

"be careful! you just recovered from a concussion," heejin reminds her, slightly worried.

 

"she's fine. also, she recovered three months ago! stop being such a worrywart. anyways, back to what i was going to say," jungeun adds. "he's nice! and also very into woojin."

 

"you know that hufflepuff guy he was totally googly eyes for?” heejin asks.

 

"yeah, he's jinsoul's partner for their research project on thestrals. woojin and jinsoul are friends because they're both giant softies for the weirdiest creatures. woojin's gay too by the way, so they are like each other's gay best friend of the opposite sex or something. but yeah, hyunjin was totally into him. the eyes say it all."

 

"oh my god, i saw it too," hyunjin chimes in with her head still on the table, still reeling in the aftermath of whatever the hell that decent, amiable, perfectly socially acceptable interaction with her ex was.

 

 _and hyunjin's gay too? okay. cool_. heejin caresses her head softly from across the table, smoothing out her now messy hair.

 

"oh but what are the chances both people once in a straight relationship end up both being gay? were you really that bad for each other or..."

 

"jungeun, just shut up, _please_."

 

/

 

"okay, truth time. don't lie to us," heejin asks just as jungeun takes a sip of her butterbeer. "why are you and jinsoul spending so much time together?"

 

jungeun chokes, and hyunjin holds up her hands before she can spit it all out onto her, again. she doesn't thankfully, and holds it down enough to swallow before answering.

 

" _fuck_ , we're dating, heejin."

 

"yeah duh, but it's sooooo excessive. and you're clingy. you're hardly ever clingy," heejin continues. hyunjin nods along with her. "i saw you hug your pillow to sleep because she slept on it the other day."

 

"i hug my pillow every day! i'm a normal person!"

 

hyunjin snickers, shaking her head. "sounds clingy to me... also it's truth time! speak the truth, jungeun, or die."

 

"fuck, i hate that you two automatically outnumber me," jungeun groans. “fine. she's graduating. when we come back in september she won't be here anymore. you guys ever thought of that?"

 

"well, we always thought she'll come back to be an understudy to professor kim anyway... doesn't she want to be a magizoologist?" heejin asks, verbalising hyunjin's exact thoughts.

 

"she does," jungeun sighs. "she got an offer to start work at scamander zoo, and her job starts in november. her professor recommended her for the job, and they liked her so much they bypassed the understudy thing. did you guys know she got 'outstanding' grades for every subject?"

 

"and she's on a research team? wow, shit. i knew she was smart but i didn't know she was _smart_ smart," hyunjin replies sympathetically when she hits a realisation. “ah, scamander zoo is pretty far away..."

 

"you think? it's half the country away." now, it's jungeun who has her head on the table. "probably a day on the nimbus 5000 or two."

 

"or you could take the damn train like the rest of us do," heejin chimes in. "busan is a few hours away by ktx..."

 

"oh." the two pure-bloods stare at each other for a while.

 

"oh," hyunjin cheers. "yay muggle technology!"

 

"ugh, anyway, i'll think about my about-to-be long-distance relationship later," jungeun checks the time on the clock hanging across the restaurant. "i have to go. i'm meeting jinsoul before we get to see each other only over facetime."

 

"facetime? you know how to use facetime now?" heejin laughs at her the prospect of her pure-blooded friend fumbling and bumbling her way through a smartphone. jungeun just narrows her eyes at her, though she does look slightly embarrassed.

 

the girl takes her leave, giving the couple some time together. hyunjin mutters _"finally"_ a little too loudly to be considered subtle. jungeun flicks her on the head before heading for the door though, and they both laugh.

 

(heejin kisses the spot on her forehead subjected to all the abuse, for the record.)

 

dusk approaches quickly, and they bide some time with the sunlight, wading through the growing plots of lavender and tulips on their way back to hogwarts.

 

when they arrive, the sky is completely darkened. stars take their place in the night sky, and they take a moment to stare up in wonderment, still hand-in-hand.

 

heejin suggests they go to the astronomy tower, because "why not?". it is the last day of school after all. hyunjin doesn't argue with that, and lets herself get tugged along, the tunes of their giggling carried away by the breeze.

 

walking the entire stairway up is kind of a chore, and even hyunjin has a hard time catching her breath. she puts on a steely demeanour for heejin still, heaving and dragging both their weights up the highest tower in hogwarts.

 

the place is just as they remember it to be in fifth year astronomy classes: a parapet with a stunning a view in every direction, and an open roof with access to a stunning piece of starry sky. it takes their breath away momentarily.

 

instinctively, their legs take them to the balcony. the star-ridden sky stretches on infinitely, blanketing the hills and rivers, giving them a sort of shimmer. it is stunning. heejin places her arms on the handrails, stretching her body forward in an attempt to take in more of the landscape. like clockwork, hyunjin wraps her arms around heejin's waist from behind.

 

they stay like this for a while, enjoying the beauty the night has to offer. hyunjin doesn't dare to move, afraid she'll ruin the perfect harmony they created. still, she's not fearful enough to resist pressing a kiss on the top of heejin's head out of pure instinct.

 

"so we're still going to see sooyoung next year right? teacher intern and stuff. but jinsoul? i'll miss her so much," heejin starts. it's a thought laced with melancholy, now that hyunjin processes it. she's known the keeper for years now, and it feels awfully like the time vivi graduated.

 

"we'll all miss her. but it'll just be a year," hyunjin tries not to sound too sad. "and then we'll graduate too, and we can go see her anytime we want. oh, and the animals she'll be taking care of as well!"

 

silence hangs in the air momentarily. hyunjin can tell heejin is thinking.

 

"you know we've haven't really talked about this... but will we be okay? you're going to be so busy as an auror and i... i'll probably have to stay in st. mungo's for my first year of residency."

 

hyunjin furrows her eyebrows at the thought of them separating. "we'll get an apartment then. just for us. we could live near the hospital, and then i'll use the floo network to go to the ministry. sound good?"

 

"yeah, sounds good," heejin sighs contently. "but where are we going to get the money?"

 

"baby, we're not even close to leaving hogwarts yet. can we figure that out when we get there?"

 

heejin laughs at that. "yeah, okay."

 

/

 

later into the night, heejin pulls out a box from her pocket. she opens it with shaky hands, asking hyunjin to look away while she does it. the girl cheekily refuses to do so, and heejin has to clamp a hand over her eyes, and fumble around the tiny box with the other.

 

"are you going to kiss me sierra burgess style? i'm not too fond of catfishes, just so you know and i really don’t want to kiss anybody but you-“

 

“shut up,” heejin scolds, though hyunjin can picture the smile on her face. finally, after a little shuffling around, hyunjin feels a piece of cool metal pressing into her palm.

 

heejin lets her hand fall from hyunjin’s face, watching on excitedly. hyunjin blinks hard at the plain silver band on her palm as she realises what heejin has just given her.

 

a ring.

 

“i do,” hyunjin blurts out before heejin even says anything.

 

“i-i haven’t even said anything! you’re supposed to listen to my speech about how these are promise rings and they were pretty cheap but i’m promising you that when we get older we’ll get nicer rings and you don’t have to wear it now but i was going to just give it to you so that you know that i’m in it… for real.”

 

there’s a slight pause before they’re both grinning at each other. the soft moonlight illuminates heejin’s face, and there are literal stars in her eyes. hyunjin brushes the stray hairs away from heejin’s face, resting her hand on her cheek. the girl leans into it. “i wanted to be the one to do that, but i guess what’s done is done now… i’m in it for real too. so, are you going to put this on my finger or what?”

 

“but we haven’t said our vows!” heejin whines, holding her own ring up to eye-level. “i solemnly swear that i will be there for you, all the time, whenever you need me.”

 

“even when i’m concussed?” hyunjin raises her eyebrows, dropping her hand from heejin’s face to hold her hand instead.

 

“especially when you’re concussed.” heejin swiftly puts the ring onto the index finger on hyunjin’s left hand.

 

“alright, then i promise that i’ll get us that apartment, and i promise to never hide anything from you again, and i promise my patronus will never change again.”

 

while putting the ring on for heejin, she quickly adds, “also, i promise to eventually put that ring on your ring finger.”

 

heejin’s eyes soften momentarily, shyly replying, “okay, you’re gonna have to stop doing that for this relationship to work.”

 

“doing what?” hyunjin asks incredulously with a laugh.

 

“out-romancing me!”

 

hyunjin laughs even more, pulling heejin forward slightly as she replies earnestly, “that is not a thing. also, i’m not the one who pulled out promise rings at the top of the astronomy tower.”

 

“just shut up,” heejin groans, letting herself fall into hyunjin’s ready arms and burying her face onto her shoulder. “i love you.”

 

hyunjin hugs her tighter to herself, wondering how she ever got this lucky.

 

“i love you too.”

 

/

 

“you ready?”

 

“i don’t think i’ll ever be more ready,” heejin replies, hands still shaking. hyunjin takes her left hand, willing her gryffindor girlfriend to have courage. she feels the ring on heejin’s finger, and grins to herself.

 

“don’t worry, he’ll love you,” hyunjin says softly. heejin nods, still visibly nervous as they enter the cemetary. she lets her instincts take over, and they make their way to a particular gravestone.

 

“hey dad,” hyunjin smiles, bending over to brush away the fallen leaves that have gathered since the last time she visited. she sets down the fresh flowers, and returns to heejin’s side, intertwining their hands.

 

“i want you to meet heejin…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twenty-four seven i’ll be there maeil gateun day i’ll be there gatajineun mame uri i will be there
> 
> thanks for all the kudos and comments! hope you guys liked it as much i enjoyed writing it :) btw 2jin outsold

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments always appreciated :)
> 
> just for context, 00 and 99 liners are the same age while all the 97 liners are a year older (except haseul), and vivi is wayyyy older so oops bad planning on my part
> 
> talk to me!   
> twt: @2jinverse


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